Proverbs

[voorhis at westman.wave.ca]

Koontz John E wrote:
> Would it be reasonable to say that a proverb is a short text of more or
> less fixed and memorable form that encapsulates something that a culture
> knows?  It's not necessarily an allusion, except perhaps to the knowledge in question,

E. C. Rowlands in "Teach Yourself Yoruba", English Universities Press,
London, 1969, p. 54 writes: "... like English proverbs, [Yoruba ones]
can be divided into two types: those that make straightforward
statements about life, e.g. 'pride comes before a fall', and those that
generalise from a particular type of experience, e.g. 'you can lead a
horse to water but you cannot make him drink'."

Concerning the distribution of proverbs, it seems to be more
geographical than sociological, with the centre, at least of cultural
importance, apparently in western Africa.  Grammars of African languages
often give  lists of them.  Proverbs also exist in Europe but seem to
play a less prominent role.  Has anyone heard of proverbs in eastern
Asia?  Chinese proverbs?  Japanese?

As someone suggested previously in this discussion, the instruction,
guidance, and admonition that Africans and Europeans get from proverbs
seem to be provided by reference to events and characters in popular
myths in traditional Native American communities.

Paul