The Human Body in Proverbs and Interpretations: A Comparative Study of French and Persian

Document Type : مقالات علمی پژوهشی

Authors
N. Djalili Marand 1
S. Chavoshian 2
M. Amini 3
1 Associate Professor, Faculty of Literature, Department of French, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Literature, Department of French, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
3 Master’s degree in French Translation, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
10.29252/LRR.14.4.2
Abstract
The current research focuses on the comparative study of proverbs and expressions in French and Persian languages. This branch of linguistics has keywords in different areas of meaning, such as plants, animals, human body, colors, numbers, nature, etc. To define the subject, the authors of the article chose the terms related to the human body and targeted five organs, that is to say "the head, the eyes, the heart, the tongue, the hands". The researchers wondered if the French terms in question are equivalent to those in Persian. If so, is the member used in both languages ​​the same or different? This comparative-analytical study is based on the studies of linguists in this field. Along with the examination of the terms cited, one encounters cases where two different organs, the repetition of the name of an organ, or the combination of the name of an organ and an adjective create a new expression. Also, the symbolic role of the limbs used in French and Persian proverbs and expressions is very evident. According to the search results, often these French expressions have equivalents in Persian, or find structures in our language in the form of explanatory sentences. In the equivalent of some expressions, the organ is not used as a keyword, and in some others it is used in conjunction with the name of another organ.



The current research deals with the comparative study of proverbs and interpretations in French and Persian languages. By using terms, a person pursues goals that are all rooted in the culture of his/her language, such as sweetening the words, concluding the discussion, avoiding raising a topic directly. This branch of linguistics has keywords in different semantic fields such as plants, animals, human body, colors, numbers and nature. To narrow down the topic, the authors of the article have chosen the terms related to the human body and have conducted a comparative study on five parts, i.e., "head, eyes, heart, tongue, hands" to find a suitable answer to these questions: Are the desired French terms equivalent in Persian or not? If the answer is positive, is the part used in both languages the same or different? The comparative-analytical research method is based on the studies of linguists in this field. The corpus of the research consists of thirty idioms (six examples for each part) which have been chosen from the following two books: Proverbs and Idioms, written by NASRIN DOKHT KHATAT, et al, which was published in 2002 by university publication in Tehran. The second book of proverbs and thematic interpretations of the French language is the work of NAHID DJALILI MARAND, which was published in 2006 by Samt Organization. In the theoretical section of the article, in addition to the views of linguists, the similarities and differences between idioms and proverbs have also been studied. In the analysis of idioms, the examples have been examined from the lexical point of view, the cultural points hidden in them and their symbolic aspect, which is very evident in both languages. Also, there are cases where the name of a body part is combined with another part to form a new term, or a new term is created by repeating the name of a part of the body, and in some cases, another type of term is created by combining the name of a part of the body with an adjective. In accordance with the results of the research, in most cases, French terms have equivalents in Persian language, and if there is no equivalent, the same terms are common in our language in the form of explanatory sentences. In the equivalent of some terms, the body part is not used as a key word, and in some others, the part used in the French term is used with the name of another part in Persian. By conducting this comparative-analytical study, we have come to the belief that French and Persian language terms have common points due to their roots in the popular culture of the two nations, in other words, they represent their symbolic language, which are used in the form of simile, metaphor, and metonymy, but sometimes these symbols are different due to cultural differences.


Keywords

Subjects

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Language Related Research
Volume 14, Issue 4 - Serial Number 76
September and October 2023
Pages 31-61