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DOI: 10.15862/07FLSK223 (https://doi.org/10.15862/07FLSK223)

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Orlova T.G. [Comparative structural and semantic analysis of English and Russian proverbs about greediness, prodigality, frugality and moderation in the context of their linguistic and cultural identity] World of Science. Series: Sociology, Philology, Cultural Studies, 2023, Vol. 14, No. 2. Available at: https://sfk-mn.ru/PDF/07FLSK223.pdf (in Russian). DOI: 10.15862/07FLSK223

Comparative structural and semantic analysis of English and Russian proverbs about greediness, prodigality, frugality and moderation in the context of their linguistic and cultural identity

Orlova Tatyana Gennadievna
RUDN University, Moscow, Russia
E-mail: rudn1964fev@yandex.ru; orlova-tg@rudn.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2777-3930
RSCI: https://elibrary.ru/author_profile.asp?id=719982
SCOPUS: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.url?authorId=57201723102

Abstract. The article deals with a comparative structural and semantic analysis of English and Russian proverbs, which express the meanings of «greediness», «prodigality», «frugality» and «moderation». The analysis of the selected material made it possible to discover the national specifics of the cultural and evaluative perception of the studied phenomena in the thinking of both peoples. The main meanings of proverbs were identified and analyzed, which reveal a view on greediness as a quality of character leading to losses, associated with insatiability and anxiety, condemned in a religious context; reveal a view on prodigality as a quality leading to the loss of material well-being; a view on thrift as a quality that contributes to the multiplication of wealth and the accumulation of great things with small means, as well as a view on moderation as a quality that contributes to «living within one’s means» and confirming the need for measure in everything. There were revealed figurative means and artistic methods inherent in the proverbs of each language. With the similarity in the proverbs of both languages of many meanings, Russian proverbs reveal a more condescending attitude towards such defects as covetousness and prodigality; this condescension is rooted in Russian fatalism, which was shaped under the influence of Orthodoxy. The figurative structure and linguistic means used in the proverbs of the two languages have much in common, despite the fact that Russian and English are languages of different types. Common features for the proverbs of both languages are capacity, conciseness, incompleteness of sentences; common methods of expressiveness are assimilation, comparison, opposition, allegory, metaphor, including personifying metaphor, paradox, metonymy, hyperbole. In English, there are more proverbs devoid of figurative meaning; they often use neutral and abstract vocabulary. Russian proverbs are characterized by a more frequent use of emotionally expressive, evaluative, colloquial vocabulary, which increases the emotionality of Russian proverbs and brings them closer to Russian folklore The relevance of the study consists not only in identifying of the main meanings of the proverbs of this semantic group, but also in revealing the ways of their verbalization. The author makes a conclusion about the connection between structural and semantic features, expressive means and evaluative connotations with the peculiarities of the national character of both peoples.

Keywords: English proverb; Russian proverb; greediness; prodigality; frugality; moderation; comparative analysis; structural and semantic analysis; phraseological meaning; expressive means

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