A Cognitive-Pragmatic Perspective on Proverbs and Its Implications for Translation

Abstract

The present paper offers a state-of-the-art cognitive-pragmatic view of proverbs by reviewing two dominant theories known as the Great Chain Metaphor Theory (GCMT), defended by Lakoff and Turner (1989), Turner (1991, 1996, 2000), and Gibbs (1994, 2001, 2002, 2006), and the Extended Conceptual Base Theory (ECBT), defended by Honeck and Temple (1994), Honeck and Welge (1997), and Temple and Honeck (1999). The paper builds on some of the weaknesses and omissions of these two theories, suggesting adjustments and modifications for a more explanatory framework in light of evidence from English and Tunisian Arabic proverbial data. In particular, the ECBT’s conceptual, pragmatic, and psychological dimensions are questioned while the GCMT is criticized for the unilateral nature of its GENERIC IS SPECIFIC component. The outcome of this discussion offers a re-classification of proverbs as mapping-free, single-mapping, and multiple-mapping. The paper closes by addressing some of the implications of a cognitive-pragmatic view of proverbs for proverb translating..