Abstract

The Influence of Pragmatic Norms on the English Proverbs

Dr.Hamid Suleiman Khalaf Kadhim

Volume: 11 Issue: 3 2021

Abstract:

In human languages proverbs constitute a very important aspect of language use. Thus, they have been a subject of varying attention from different specialists: linguists and language users in general. Shakespeare is described as the most adroit user of proverbs in literature; therefore, his plays have been the subject of numerous scientific investigations, whereby from a linguistic point of view the focus has primarily been aimed at vocabulary and grammar. On the one hand, attention has been paid regularly to lexical items because Shakespeare is supposed to have been a great innovator of words due to his coinage of new lexemes and his usage of several unknown expressions. Linguistic studies have also been concerned with grammatical constructions which are typical of the English at Shakespeare’s time. Many writers employ proverbs in their works but Shakespeare is different in the way he employs proverbs which are used to serve different functions and to achieve different illocutionary acts. These proverbs are embedded in the flow of conversations and they may flout one or more than one of Grice‘s maxims.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.37648/ijrssh.v11i03.030

Back Download