Similar and unique in the family: How to raise children (Using examples of Turkish and Georgian proverbs relating to children)

Abstract

The paper explores semantic models of proverbs which denote the status of children in the family as well as issues connected to the process of child-raising in Turkish and Georgian languages and cultures. The data relevant to the study were identified, collected and analysed on the basis of the pragma-semantic model of the proverb suggested by Rusieshvili (2005) who looks at the proverb as a synthesis of three interdependent and intertwined layers playing a decisive role in the creation of the overall meaning of the proverb. The first layer of the proverb reveals its metaphoric form whereas the second layer reveals its general and contextual parameters. The upper layer of the model, a level of the background cultural knowledge, reveals the part of the model of the world corresponding to the metaphoric image of the proverb. On the basis of the study, partial and full equivalents in one or both of the target languages and cultures involved in the study were identified. The proverbs which contain a relevant word “child, daughter, mother, father, family†as well as those items, which metaphorically refer to these concepts, were identified and grouped into corresponding semantic models. At the next stage of the study the semantic models were interpreted, compared and the morals of the proverbs were identified. The study revealed cultural similarities and differences regarding the attitude of both nations and cultures to children and their upbringing.