Proverbs – tool for transmission of culture, social morality and manners

Turmetova A.I.

Candidate of Philology Rysbaeva G.K.C. (tutor)

Kazakh Women Pedagogical University, Kazakhstan

Proverbs – tool for transmission of culture, social morality and manners

Each culture has proverbs that are unique to it. The saying, "if you want to know a people, know their proverbs" illustrates this. Proverbs, in colorful and vivid language, reflect important typical cultural values of every culture. Simple and popular, concise and pithy, they are passed on from generation to generation in the readable oral form and have gradually become a component indispensable to the dominant culture of that nation. They are brief and well-polished expressions embedded in philosophical ideas concerning different aspects of life. They are the summary of people experience in everyday life, so they originated from people's daily life and experience. To be specific, they come from folk life, religion, mythology, literary works, other languages, famous writers' wisdom, a nation's history and so on. Its function is to teach and advise people what they see in their lives.

National specific character of proverbs is most clearly revealed in the comparison of different languages. We conduct the research because there are a lot of proverbs in Kazakh and English languages that contain values of life. It is known that the Kazakh and British people who live in different social and natural conditions have a different history, religion, morals, principles, morality, psychology, etc. Many English and Kazakh proverbs guide people to adopt a correct attitude towards life and to take a proper way to get along well with others. Some other proverbs tell people what to do and how to do it, so the proverbs guide people's daily life. From them, people may broaden their knowledge and outlook.
Proverbs may provide interesting little glimpses or clues to a people's geography, history, social organization, social views, and attitudes. Also proverbs, besides being an important part of culture, are an important tool for effective communication and for the comprehension of different spoken and written discourses. The person who does not acquire competence in using proverbs will be limited in conversation, will have difficulty comprehending a wide variety of printed matter, radio, television, songs etc., and will not understand proverb parodies which presuppose a familiarity with a stock proverb.

The proverb has had a long and honorable history in the classroom. As early as the tenth century proverbs were used in England as a brighter method of teaching Latin. Many generations of children through the nineteenth century and beyond were expected to improve their minds as well as their writing by having to copy proverbs out in their copy books. Also the commonest proverbs still form part of the background of every Kazakh speaking child, and this is recognized in the early stages of modern Education, where many uses are made of them. Work with proverbs and sayings at the lessons not only helps to diversify educational process and to make its brighter and interesting. Moreover it helps to solve a number of very important educational problems: proverbs in the classroom can improve students¡¯ learning experiences, their language skills, and their understanding of themselves and the world.

Also proverbs, besides being an important part of culture, are an important tool for effective communication and for the comprehension of different spoken and written discourses. The person who does not acquire competence in using proverbs will be limited in conversation, will have difficulty comprehending a wide variety of printed matter, radio, television, songs etc., and will not understand proverb parodies which presuppose a familiarity with a stock proverb. In cultures where old age is revered, there will be proverbs about the wisdom of the elders. Proverbs tell much about a people's traditional ways of experiencing reality, about the proper or expected ways of doing things, about values and warnings, and rules and wisdoms the elders want to impress on the minds of their young. The important character of proverbs' the shorter the better 'makes it easy to commit them to memory for ready recall when the occasion calls for serious or humorous comment or warning. Some proverbs are intended to persuade and teach people. To persuade is to praise justice, to fight against the bully. To teach is to guide people to adopt a correct attitude towards life, to take a proper way to get along well with others. For example, §£§Ött§Ör di§Ö st§Ñnding th§Ñn liv§Ö kn§Ö§Öling. §´i§Ù§Ö§â§Ý§Ö§á ө§Þi§â §ãү§â§Ô§Ö§ß§ê§Ö, §´i§Ü §äұ§â§í§á ө§Ý§Ô§Ö§ß §Ñ§â§ä§íқ. Қ§à§â§Ý§íқ ө§Þi§â§Õ§Ö§ß, §¦§â§Ýi§Ü ө§Ýi§Þ §Ñ§â§ä§íқ.

Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them -§¨§à§Ý§Õ§Ñ§ã қ§Ñ§Õі§âі§ß §Ø§à§â§íқ§ä§Ñ §Òі§Ý§Ö§â§ãің, §Õ§à§ã қ§Ñ§Õі§âі§ß §ã§àғ§í§ã§ä§Ñ §Òі§Ý§Ö§â§ãің.

Hope for the best, expect the worst-Ү§Þі§ä§ãі§Ù §ä§Ö§Ü §ê§Ñ§Û§ä§Ñ§ß

Look before you leap-§¬ө§â§á§Öң§Ö қ§Ñ§â§Ñ§Û §Üө§ãі§Ý . Such proverbs sound very firm and resolute and they can strengthen people conviction and awaken people consciousness of life or better their thinking methods. They are very helpful for people to make distinction between right and wrong, to be clear about what to love and what to hate. Because they are good for people's self-cultivation and they can call for deep thought, many people take these proverbs as their life motto. Some other proverbs reveal and criticize the dark side of the ages or society. They attack the dirty practices of the society so as to remind people to keep conscious and maintain sharp warning. For example, In th§Ö §Öv§Öning §àn§Ö m§Ñ§å §âr§Ñis§Ö th§Ö d§Ñ§å. §¨§Ö§äі §â§Ö§ä ө§Ý§ê§Ö§á, §Òі§â §â§Ö§ä §Ü§Ö§ã.

It is n§Öv§Ör t§à§à l§Ñt§Ö t§à l§Ö§Ñrn. §ª§Ôi§Ýi§Ü§äiң §Ö§â§ä§Ö §Ü§Ö§êi §Ø§àқ.

§´ү§ã§äi§Ü ө§Þi§âiң §Ò§à§Ý§ã§Ñ, §¬§Ö§ê§äi§Ü §Òi§Ýi§Þ §Ø§Ú.

Li§Ös h§Ñv§Ö sh§àrt l§Ögs.

Ө§äi§âi§Ü§äiң құ§Û§â§íғ§í §Òi§â-§Ñқ §äұ§ä§Ñ§Þ.

Y§àu n§Öv§Ör kn§àw wh§Ñt §å§àu §ã§Ñn d§à if §å§àu tr§å. §¬ө§Ù қ§à§âқ§Ñқ, Қ§à§Ý §Ò§Ñ§ä§í§â.

§´§à§à m§Ñn§å §ã§à§àks s§â§àil th§Ö br§àth. §®§Ñn§å §ã§àmm§Ñnd§Örs sink th§Ö shi§â.Қ§à§Û§ê§í §Üө§á §Ò§à§Ý§ã§Ñ, Қ§à§Û §Ñ§â§Ñ§Þ ө§Ý§Ö§Õi.§´ү§Û§Ö §Üө§á §Ò§à§Ý§ã§Ñ, §Øү§Ü §ã§í§Û§Þ§Ñ§ã
Proverbs have a function to spread experiences and knowledge. Many Kazakh and English proverbs summarize knowledge of people's daily life such as The best wine comes out of an old vessel; Soft fire makes sweet malt. As people's daily life is complicated and extremely trifling, such proverbs are numerous. They summarize people's knowledge in their life and they tell people what to do and how to do it. They are just like an encyclopedia to guide people's daily life. From them, people may broaden their knowledge and outlook so as to avoid making mistakes.

Created by people in high and low status, humble folk and great authors, borrowed from ancient or neighboring cultures, proverbs have been accumulating over many centuries. Some are only locally known; many are shared around the world. To have better knowledge of Kazakh and British culture, we should be familiar with the sources and functions of their proverbs. Proverbs has been and remains a most powerful and effective instrument for the transmission of culture, social morality, manners and ideas of a people from one generation to another. Proverbs were always the most vivacious and at the same time the most stable part of the national languages, suitable competing with the sayings and aphorisms of outstanding thinkers. In proverbs picturesqueness of national thinking was more vivid expressed as well as their features of national character.

References:

1.Wolfgang Mieder. Proverbs are Never out of Season. Popular Wisdom in the 2.Modern Age. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993

Wang-chun, YANG Ying, Huang full moon.English Proverbs and culture [ M] .Shanghai :Shanghai foreign language Education Press, 2003. P57

3.§´h§Ö §³§Ñmbridg§Ö §¦n§ã§å§ãl§à§â§Ödi§Ñ §àf th§Ö §¦nglish L§Ñngu§Ñg§Ö. §¦diti§àn b§å D§Ñvid §³І§åst§Ñl. §². 184.

4.On the Singing Phonetics of the Kazakh Language, Tolkyn Zabirova.

5.Aққ§à§Ù§Ú§ß §®. Ө Қ§Ñ§Ù§Ñқ §Þ§Ñқ§Ñ§Ý-§Þә§ä§Ö§Ý§Õ§Ö§âі. –§¡§Ý§Þ§Ñ§ä§í, 1990 §Ø. 288 §Ò§Ö§ä.