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How Do Proverbs Get Their Meanings? The Model of Interpretation Based on a Metaphor Theory.

2011

The constellation of proverbs is quite permanent. Only one third of proverbs are supposed to change in about one hundred years (Kuusi 1994: 117−118). This means that the proverbs used in the 21st century are much the same as the proverbs in the beginning of the 20th century and quite the same as in 1850’s. In this article I focus on the proverb as a significant unit. Even if the proverbs are unchangeable, their meanings are not. The proverbial expressions can be looked from at least four stand points: (1) What is the proverb decoded to mean? (2) What do the words mean? (3) What does the speaker mean? (4) How does the listener interpret the proverb? With all the four ways there are some weak…