A Contrastive Study Of Chinese And English Proverbs: A Culturematic Approach

Proverbs are not only a genre of folkloric sayings but can also be regarded as reflecting the culture in which they are used,i.e.as the sum of spiritual and material achievements produced by the interaction between human beings and their environment.This sum includes lifestyle,values,knowledge,technological achievements,and all material objects with unique humanistic characteristics after human transformation and understanding.The culturematic approach to proverbs is interested in the axiological,i.e.,value aspects,of the culture reflected by proverbs.This thesis adopts the Culturematic Approach to elicit culturemes in Chinese and English proverbs to establish,first,their predominant culturemes(i.e.“value-charged units” and the value hierarchy of which these are part,and second,the differences and similarities between the two languages with respect to the specific value unit of“reciprocity”.The research questions of the thesis are(1)What are the predominant values reflected by Chinese and English proverbs? Are there any differences/similarities between the two cultures?(2)How can these differences/similarities be interpreted? Based on the formation of the hierarchical structure of proverbs in both cultures,this thesis has found:(1)The cultureme of RECIPROCITY is dominant in both English and Chinese proverbs;(2)the subcultureme of GOLDEN RULE appears to be missing from Chinese proverbs;(3)The differences between Chinese and English proverbs in this respect could be due to economic factors,while the similarities are reflections on the commonality of human nature.