Volume 15, Issue 4 (2024)                   LRR 2024, 15(4): 409-441 | Back to browse issues page

‎ 10.48311/LRR.15.4.409
‎ 20.1001.1.23223081.1401.0.0.173.5

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ِDjalili Marand N, Chavoshian S. The World of Colors in French and Persian Proverbs and Expressions. LRR 2024; 15 (4) :409-441
URL: http://lrr.modares.ac.ir/article-14-60256-en.html
The World of Colors in French and Persian Proverbs and Expressions
Nahid ِDjalili Marand * 1, Sharareh Chavoshian2
1- Professor, Department of French, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran , djalili@alzahra.ac.ir
2- Associate Professor, Department of French, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract:   (3880 Views)
The present article, realized by using analytical method and library research, has discussed the different roles of colors in French and Persian terms. On the one hand, these terms have been studied in the field of linguistics, especially in terms of vocabulary and syntactic structure, and on the other hand, their hidden and obvious symbols have been analyzed by the intercultural point of view. In order to be aware of the commonality and differentiation of the colors’ role in the terms of both French and Persian languages and to create order and coherence in the text of the article, the authors have categorized them into six groups, according to their own initiative: conceptual metaphor, terms structured by noun and adjective, metonymy, political domain, abstract concepts and terms based on infinitive. It is noteworthy that by referring to specialized books and dictionaries, the body of research consisting of qualified terms for each group has been conceived and for each of them, equivalent has been chosen in the target language. In addition to examining each term, the authors of the article have provided an analytical study of the examples, citing the views of linguists. Also, by referring to the book Le Proverbe : Vers une définition linguistique (2012) by Sonia Gomez-Jordana Ferari, the syntactic structure of the examples of the research body has been examined..
 
  1. Introduction
The present article analyzes the different roles of colors in French and Persian terms and examines them with a comparative approach in this field of linguistics. In fact, the authors of the article, in order to be aware of the commonalities and differences between the desired roles in the terms with the names of colors in two languages, have categorized them into six groups on their own initiative: conceptual metaphor, short, permissible expressions, politics, concepts abstract and terminology with verb source structure. This work has given a special order and coherence to the research text. It is noteworthy that by referring to specialized books and cultures, examples have been found for each group and equivalents have been found for each of them in the target language. In addition to examining each term, the authors have provided analytical explanations based on the points of view of linguists and based on their knowledge and experiences. Also, the syntactic structure of each group has been studied by referring to the book Proverbs: Towards a Definition Based on Linguistics (2012) by Sonia Gomez-Jordana Ferrari. In this research, with an analytical method, the commonalities of the color symbol in both languages ​​are emphasized, but sometimes in Persian or French equivalent, another word is used instead of color and sometimes the names of colors are due to cultural differences between these two different languages.
The proverbs and interpretations of each language have been created in various contexts, contain different topics, and express interesting and instructive content because they have been and will be the result of the experiences of many generations. Humans (gender and body parts), animals, plants, nature, numbers, colors, specific names, geographical areas, etc. are the keywords of the terms and proverbs. These themes play an important role in creating the meaning of the terms: sometimes they have an implicit meaning and sometimes an explicit meaning, sometimes they express a specific culture or religion, and sometimes they appear symbolically. Whatever role they play in the term, the reader or listener must be familiar with the meaning in order to understand its meaning, otherwise, it will be difficult or impossible for the audience to understand the text or speech. Colors have a prominent presence in human daily life and play important roles in various fields: they represent socio-political tendencies, they can represent the personality of each of us, and express our feelings in the situation. Be different mentally and physically. The importance of colors is such that they have even taken up a significant part of the proverbs and expressions of the living languages ​​of the world. Given their connection to this field of language and linguistics, we decided to conduct research in this field and find a convincing answer to our question: the symbolic roles of colors used in proverbs and interpretations in both languages Persian and French culture are the same or different?
  1. Methodology
The research method is based on the principle that by first referring to specialized cultures and books in this field, a number of terms and proverbs in which the names of colors are used as a body of work have been selected. Then, in a comparative approach, we discuss the commonalities and differences between the two languages. This is a comparative analytical study in the field of lexical, symbolic, and cultural bilingualism with reference to the views of linguists and philosophers in both languages.
In this research, we got acquainted with the world of colors in a wide field of language and linguistics, and according to their diversity and in order to organize the text of the article, these proverbs and colorful interpretations according to their initiative in groups. We included a variety of colors, including conceptual metaphors, short, permissible phrases, the realm of politics, abstract concepts, and terms with verb endings. In addition to analyzing the symbolic role of colors used in the terms of each group, by considering the commonalities and differentiating them in the two languages ​​that is the initial question of our research, citing Gomez-Jordana's classification into its syntactic structure.
  1. Results
In fact, except for the terms with the verb structure in the conceptual metaphorical group, which are usually used with the verb "being and becoming" in Persian and "être et devenir" in France, and the last group as terms with the verb structure, our classification group did not match with what Gomez-Jordana introduced. In terms of the symbolism of colors in the conceptual metaphors of the two languages, "similar and similar" is usually common, but in most cases "similar to" is not the same in Persian and French because the cultural distance between the two languages ​​in some cases causes this difference. For example, in Persian, the color of the face turns yellow like "yellow wood", while "similar to" in French is "fruit, lemon and a kind of candle made of animal tallow". In French short phrases, white, blue, and yellow are used to express "waking night, rage, intense anger, false laughter, family originality, etc.", while this type of Persian phrase is less colorful. They are combined, but sometimes they have a color symbol, such as "horror film" which is presented in black in France or "immaturity of a girl" which in French is marked with green meaning immaturity, with some exceptions. It exists in Persian, such as "yellow fever, green hand" and so on. Despite the lexical differences in the short phrases of the two languages ​​in this category, in the Persian equivalents, one can easily understand the emotions that the colors used in the French phrases evoke. In the allowed section, French terms are usually the same color as Persian equivalents, and these colors evoke the socio-cultural burden of both languages. It goes without saying that in some cases, in Persian, instead of using "white clothes, blue clothes" and other cases, we are content with the names of jobs, but at the same time, their uniforms are also imprinted in our minds. In politics, too, most colors are internationally symbolic and can be used under the same name in any language. In abstract concepts, we believe that colors play a symbolic role, for example, being negative and pessimistic, in despair and hope evokes a blackness in our minds, and vice versa, optimism, love of life, and enjoying its various aspects justify the presence of pink in the terms because it expresses tenderness, beauty, calmness and cheerfulness. Regarding color, Merleau-Ponty quotes the French painter Cézanne as saying that "color is the space where the human brain and the outside world meet" (Merleau-Ponty, p. 66). This applies to the connection of colors with all the parts studied in this article, because the human brain connects the two issues according to the conditions of time and place in which the terms in question originated.
 
Keywords: color, cultural differences, language and culture, proverbs and expressions, symbolic role
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Article Type: مقالات علمی پژوهشی | Subject: Linguistics
Published: 2024/10/1
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