Editing Proverb (section)

==Features==
===Grammatical structures===
Proverbs in various languages are found with a wide variety of grammatical structures.<ref>See Mac Coinnigh, Marcas. Syntactic Structures in Irish-Language Proverbs. ''Proverbium: Yearbook of International Proverb Scholarship'' 29, 95–136.</ref> In English, for example, we find the following structures (in addition to others):
* Imperative, negative – [[Flogging a dead horse|Don't beat a dead horse.]]
* Imperative, positive – [[wikt:if the shoe fits, wear it|If the shoe fits, wear it]]!
* Parallel phrases – [[Garbage in, garbage out]].
* Rhetorical question – Is the Pope Catholic?
* Declarative sentence – [[Birds of a feather flock together]].

However, people will often quote only a fraction of a proverb to invoke an entire proverb, e.g. "All is fair" instead of "All is fair in love and war", and "A rolling stone" for "A rolling stone gathers no moss."

The grammar of proverbs is not always the typical grammar of the spoken language. Elements are often moved around, to achieve rhyme or focus.<ref>Sebastian J. Floor. 2005. Poetic Fronting in a Wisdom Poetry Text: The Information Structure of Proverbs 7. ''Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages'' 31: 23–58.</ref>

Another type of grammatical construction is the [[wellerism]], a speaker and a quotation, often with an unusual circumstance, such as the following, a representative of a wellerism proverb found in many languages: "The bride couldn't dance; she said, 'The room floor isn't flat.'"<ref>p. 20, 21. Unseth, Peter, Daniel Kliemt, Laurel Morgan, Stephen Nelson, Elaine Marie Scherrer. 2017. Wellerism proverbs: Mapping their distribution. ''GIALens'' 11.3: [https://www.diu.edu/documents/gialens/Vol11-3/Unseth-WPs.pdf website]</ref>

Another type of grammatical structure in proverbs is a short dialogue:
* Shor/Khkas (SW Siberia): "They asked the camel, 'Why is your neck crooked?' The camel laughed roaringly, 'What of me is straight?'"<ref>p. 176. Roos, Marti, Hans Nugteren, Zinaida Waibel. 2006. Khakas and Shor proverbs and proverbial sayings. In ''Exploring the Eastern Frontiers of Turkic'', ed by Marcel Erdal and Irina Nevskaya, pp. 157–192. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.</ref>
* [[Armenian language|Armenian]]: "They asked the wine, 'Have you built or destroyed more?' It said, 'I do not know of building; of destroying I know a lot.'"<ref>p. 135. Sakayan, Dora. 1999. Reported and direct speech in proverbs: On Armenian dialogue proverbs. Proverbium 16: 303–324.</ref>
* Bakgatla (a.k.a. [[Tswana language|Tswana]]): "The thukhui jackal said, 'I can run fast.' But the sands said, 'We are wide.'" ([[Botswana]])<ref>p. 246. Mitchison, Naomi and Amos Kgamanyane Pilane. 1967. The Bakgatla of South-East Botswana As Seen through Their Proverbs. ''Folklore'' Vol. 78, No. 4: 241–268.</ref>
* [[Bambara language|Bamana]]: "'Speech, what made you good?' 'The way I am,' said Speech. 'What made you bad?' 'The way I am,' said Speech." (Mali)<ref>p. 221. Kone, Kasim. 1997.'' Bamana verbal art: An ethnographic study of proverbs''. PhD dissertation, Indiana University.</ref>

[[File:Ochsenfurt Hauptstraße 60 Schuster.jpg|thumb|"The cobbler should stick to his last" in German. It is also an old proverb in English, but now "[[last]]" is no longer known to many.]]

===Conservative language===
[[File:Latijnse tekst boven portaal.JPG|left|thumb|Latin proverb over doorway in Netherlands: "No one attacks me with impunity"]]
Because many proverbs are both poetic and traditional, they are often passed down in fixed forms. Though spoken language may change, many proverbs are often preserved in conservative, even [[Archaism|archaic]], form. "Proverbs often contain archaic... words and structures."<ref>p. 21. Norrick, Neal R. "Subject area, terminology, proverb definitions, proverb features." ''Introduction to paremiology: A comprehensive guide to proverb studies'', edited by Hrisztalina Hristova-Gotthardt and Melita Aleksa Varga, (2014): 7-27.</ref> In English, for example, "betwixt" is not commonly used, but a form of it is still heard (or read) in the proverb "There is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip." The conservative form preserves the meter and the rhyme. This conservative nature of proverbs can result in archaic words and grammatical structures being preserved in individual proverbs, as has been widely documented, e.g. in Amharic,<ref>p. 691. Michael Ahland. 2009. From topic to subject: Grammatical change in the Amharic possessive construction. ''Studies in Language'' 33.3 pp. 685–717.</ref> [[Nsenga language|Nsenga]],<ref>p. 64. Christopher J. Pluger. 2014. ''Translating New Testament proverb-like sayings in the style of Nsenga proverbs.'' Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics MA thesis.</ref> Polish,<ref>Szpila, Grzegorz. 2001. Archaic lexis in Polish Proverbs. In Władysław Witalisz (ed.), ''"And gladly wolde he lerne and gladly teche": Studies on Language and Literature in Honour of Professor Dr. Karl Heinz Göller'', pp. 187–193. Kraków 2001.</ref> [[Venda language|Venda]],<ref>pp. 33-37. Mafenya, Livhuwani Lydia. ''The proverb in Venda: a linguistic analysis.'' MA Diss. University of Johannesburg, 1994,</ref> [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]],<ref>p. 36. Watson, Wilfred GE. ''Classical Hebrew poetry: a guide to its techniques.'' A&C Black, 2004.</ref> [[Giriama]],<ref>p. xviii. Taylor, W(illiam) E(rnest). 1891. ''Giriyama Vocabulary and Collections.'' London: [[Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge]].</ref> [[Georgian (language)|Georgian]],<ref>Tea Shurgaia (2020) The Proverbial Wisdom of a Georgian Language Island in Iran, Iranian Studies, 53:3–4, 551–571, {{doi|10.1080/00210862.2020.1716189}}</ref> [[Karachay-Balkar]],<ref>Ketenchiev, M.B., Akhmatova M.A., and Dodueva A.T. 2022. “Archaic Vocabulary in Karachay-Balkar Paroemias”. ''Polylinguality and Transcultural Practices'', 19 (2), 297–307. {{doi|10.22363/2618-897X-2022-19-2-297-307}} [in Russian]</ref> [[Hausa language|Hausa]],<ref>Merrick, Captain G. 1905. Hausa Proverbs. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., p. 6,7.</ref> [[Uzbek language|Uzbek]],<ref>Madiyorova Valida Quvondiq qizi. Analysis of Archaic Words in the Structure of English and Uzbek Proverbs. ''EPRA International Journal of Research and Development'' 6.4.2021: 360–362.</ref> [[Budu language|Budu]] of [[Democratic Republic of Congo|Congo]],<ref>{{cite thesis |page=113 |last=Frieke-Kappers |first=C. |date=2007 |title=The Creative Use of Genre Features Continuity and Change in Patterns of Language Use in Budu, a Bantu Language of Congo (Kinshasa) |type=PhD thesis |publisher=[[Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam]]}}</ref> [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]].<ref>p. 109, Omarbekova, Gulnara and Erik Aasland, eds., ''Contemporary Kazakh Proverb Research: Digital, Cognitive, Literary, and Ecological Approaches.'' (2022), New York: Peter Lang.</ref> 

In addition, proverbs may still be used in languages which were once more widely known in a society, but are now no longer so widely known. For example, English speakers use some non-English proverbs that are drawn from languages that used to be widely understood by the educated class, e.g. "C'est la vie" from French and "[[Carpe diem]]" from Latin.

Proverbs are often handed down through generations. Therefore, "many proverbs refer to old measurements, obscure professions, outdated weapons, unknown plants, animals, names, and various other traditional matters."<ref>p. 33. Wolfgang Mieder. 2014. ''Behold the Proverbs of a People: Proverbial Wisdom in Culture, Literature, and Politics.'' Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.</ref>
Therefore, it is common that they preserve words that become less common and archaic in broader society.<ref>Issa O. Sanusi and R.K. Omoloso. The role of Yoruba proverbs in preserving archaic lexical items and expressions in Yoruba.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20100716115043/http://www.unilorin.edu.ng/publications/omoloso/THE%20ROLE%20OF%20YORUBA%20PROVERS%20IN%20PRESERVING%20ARCHAIC%20LEXICAL%20ITEMS%20AND%20EXPRESSIONS%20IN%20YORUBA.htm]</ref><ref>Eme, Cecilia A., Davidson U. Mbagwu, and Benjamin I. Mmadike. "Igbo proverbs and loss of metaphors." PREORC Journal of Arts and Humanities 1.1 (2016): 72–91.</ref>  Archaic proverbs in solid form{{snd}}such as murals, carvings, and glass{{snd}}can be viewed even after the language of their form is no longer widely understood, such as an [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-French]] proverb in a [[stained glass]] window in York.<ref name="Lisa Reilly 2016">Lisa Reilly & Mary B. Shepard (2016) "Sufferance fait ease en temps": word as image at St Michael-le-Belfrey, York. ''Word & Image'' 32:2, 218–234. {{doi|10.1080/02666286.2016.1167577}}.</ref>

===Borrowing and spread===
Proverbs are often and easily translated and transferred from one language into another. "There is nothing so uncertain as the derivation of proverbs, the same proverb being often found in all nations, and it is impossible to assign its paternity."<ref>p. ii. Thomas Fielding. 1825. Select proverbs of all nations. New York: Covert.</ref>
[[File:Притча о слепых.jpeg|290px|thumb|''[[The Blind Leading the Blind]]'' by [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]]]]
Proverbs are often borrowed across lines of language, religion, and even time. For example, a proverb of the approximate form "No flies enter a mouth that is shut" is currently found in Spain, France, Ethiopia, and many countries in between. It is embraced as a true local proverb in many places and should not be excluded in any collection of proverbs because it is shared by the neighbors. However, though it has gone through multiple languages and millennia, the proverb can be traced back to an ancient Babylonian proverb<ref>p. 146. Pritchard, James. 1958. ''The Ancient Near East'', vol. 2. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.</ref> Another example of a widely spread proverb is "A drowning person clutches at [frogs] foam", found in Peshai of Afghanistan<ref>p. 67. Ju-Hong Yun and Pashai Language Committee. 2010. On a mountain there is still a road. Peshawar, Pakistan: InterLit Foundation.</ref> and Orma of Kenya,<ref>p. 24. Calvin C. Katabarwa and Angelique Chelo. 2012. Wisdom from Orma, Kenya proverbs and wise sayings. Nairobi: African Proverbs Working Group. http://www.afriprov.org/images/afriprov/books/wisdomofOrmaproverbs.pdf</ref> and presumably places in between.

Proverbs about one hand clapping are common across Asia,<ref>Kamil V. Zvelebil. 1987. The Sound of the One Hand. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 107, No. 1, pp. 125–126.</ref> from Dari in Afghanistan<ref>p. 16, Edward Zellem. 2012. Zarbul Masalha: 151 Aghan Dari proverbs.</ref> to Japan.<ref>p. 164. Philip B. Yampolsky, (trans.). 1977. The Zen Master Hakuin: Selected Writings. New York, Columbia University Press.</ref> Some studies have been done devoted to the spread of proverbs in certain regions, such as India and her neighbors<ref>Ludwik Sternbach. 1981. Indian Wisdom and Its Spread beyond India. Journal of the American Oriental Society Vol. 101, No. 1, pp. 97–131.</ref> and Europe.<ref>Matti Kuusi; Marje Joalaid; Elsa Kokare; Arvo Krikmann; Kari Laukkanen; Pentti Leino; Vaina Mālk; Ingrid Sarv. Proverbia Septentrionalia. ''900 Balto-Finnic Proverb Types with Russian, Baltic, German and Scandinavian Parallels''. Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia (1985)</ref> An extreme example of the borrowing and spread of proverbs was the work done to create a corpus of proverbs for [[Esperanto]], where all the proverbs were translated from other languages.<ref>Fiedler, Sabine. 1999. Phraseology in planned languages. ''Language problems and language planning'' 23.2: 175–187.</ref>

It is often not possible to trace the direction of borrowing a proverb between languages. This is complicated by the fact that the borrowing may have been through plural languages. In some cases, it is possible to make a strong case for discerning the direction of the borrowing based on an artistic form of the proverb in one language, but a prosaic form in another language. For example, in Ethiopia there is a proverb "Of mothers and water, there is none evil." It is found in [[Amharic]], [[Alaba-K'abeena language|Alaaba language]], and [[Oromo language|Oromo]], three languages of Ethiopia:
* Oromo: ''Hadhaa fi bishaan, hamaa hin qaban.''
* Amharic: ''Käənnatənna wəha, kəfu yälläm.''
* Alaaba: ''Wiihaa ʔamaataa hiilu yoosebaʔa''<ref>p. 92. Gertrud Schneider-Blum. 2009. ''Máakuti t'awá shuultáa: Proverbs finish the problems: Sayings of the Alaaba (Ethiopia)''. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.</ref>
The Oromo version uses poetic features, such as the initial ''ha'' in both clauses with the final ''-aa'' in the same word, and both clauses ending with ''-an''. Also, both clauses are built with the vowel ''a'' in the first and last words, but the vowel ''i'' in the one syllable central word. In contrast, the Amharic and Alaaba versions of the proverb show little evidence of sound-based art.

However, not all languages have proverbs. Proverbs are (nearly) universal across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Some languages in the Pacific have them, such as Māori with whakataukī.<ref>Brougham, Aileen E., Alexander Wyclif Reed, and Tīmoti Sam Kāretu. ''The Reed book of Maori proverbs.'' Reed Books, 1999.</ref> Other Pacific languages do not, e.g. "there are no proverbs in [[Kilivila]]" of the [[Trobriand Islands]].<ref>p. 277. Senft, Gunter. 2010. ''The Trobriand Islanders' Ways of Speaking.'' (Volume 27 of Trends in Linguistics. Documentation.) Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.</ref>  In the New World, there are almost no proverbs: "While proverbs abound in the thousands in most cultures of the world, it remains a riddle why the Native Americans have hardly any proverb tradition at all."<ref>p. 108. Mieder, Wolfgang. 2004. ''Proverbs: A handbook. Greenwood Publishing Group.''</ref> Although, "as Mieder has commented . . . the reason for the visible lack of proverbs was probably the inability of foreign
researchers to identify proverbial utterances among those peoples."<ref>p. 313. Hakamies, Pekka. 2016. "Proverbs – A Universal Genre?", in ''Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Folklore and Beyond'', ed. by Kaarina Koski and Frog with Ulla Savolainen, Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society.</ref> Hakamies has examined the matter of whether proverbs are found universally, a universal genre, concluding that they are not.<ref>Hakamies, Pekka. 2016. "Proverbs – A Universal Genre?", in ''Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Folklore and Beyond'', ed. by Kaarina Koski and Frog with Ulla Savolainen, pp. 299–316. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society.</ref>