英语谚语中的修辞手法研究

英语谚语的修辞手法研究
摘要：谚语是语言中的精华，是人类智慧的结晶。

它是熟语的一种，是流传于民间的比较简练而且言简意赅的言语形式。

多数反映了劳动人民的生活实践经验，而且一般都是经过口头传下来的。

谚语对于人民的生活起着重要的指导作用。

英语谚语是英语中非常重要的一部分，本文将从语音、语义、句法三个层次分析修辞在谚语中的使用特点，并据此揭示英语谚语在思想、智慧、语言、艺术等方面的突出成就。

英语谚语大量使用修辞格, 使之精练简洁、形象鲜明、韵律优美, 从而产生强烈的艺术感染力。

由于篇幅所限，本文只讨论了几种常见的修辞手段，还有其他对谚语有重要美学意义的修辞未曾涉及到，例如矛盾修饰、拟物、提喻、讽刺等。

因此本文只是关于修辞手段的的部分讨论，其余还有待今后进一步研究。

关键词：英语谚语; 修辞格; 艺术感染力
Alliteration
Feng Cuihua(1983:91) defines alliteration as “alliteration is a rhetorical device that has more to do with sound than the sense of words for effect. It is a device that repeats the same sound at frequent intervals and since the sound repeated is usually the initial consonant sound, it is also called front rhyme.”
Alliteration, though, is not always used for such artistic purposes. It can also be used simply to impress something on one’s memory through sheer repetition of like initial sounds. For instance, we remember proverbs and wise sayings like “Penny wise, pound foolish” and “practi ce makes perfect” (Feng Cuihua,1983:92) because they are short and the sounds easy to remember. In present-day writing and advertisements, writers make use of this aspect alliteration quite frequently.
Alliteration is used in English proverbs more often than in English poems, and it makes the proverb to be read more smoothly and easy to remember. The main rhetoric function of alliteration is to increase the rhythm of language, besides which, alliteration is sometimes used to imitate some sound in life to make the language more vivid and impressive.
We can find the effects of alliteration in proverbs like:
(1) Time tries truth. 时间检验真理
(2) Seeing is believing. 眼见为实。

(3) Several men, several minds. 千人千品
(4) Safe bind , safe find. 藏得好，容易找。

(5) Out of sight, out of mind. 眼不见，心不烦。

(6) Past cure, past care. 听之任之。

(7) Money makes the mare go. 有钱能使鬼推磨
(8) Willful waste makes woeful want. 肆意挥霍，家徒四壁。

(陈明华, 2007:15-297)
We could identify the rhythm and vividness of these proverbs and realize the smoothness of the short sentences easily.
Consonance
“Consonance, the counterpart of assonance, refers to partial or total identity of
consonants in words or syllables whose main vowels differ. It is the close repetition of identical consonant sounds before and after different vowels. For example: slip/slop; creak/croak; black/block; shadow/meadow; pressed/past. This figure is often used in poems”. (王玉龙,张德玉,2006:248)
As a matter of fact alliteration and consonance are often employed together to a speech or writing more rhythmic and appealing. Consonance used in English proverbs often gives us an impression of completeness and makes the proverbs more persuasive. It also enables us to read the proverbs in one rhythm, and displays the uniqueness of the cultures embodied in the proverbs. Here are some examples:
(1) Birds of a feather flock together. 物以类聚人以群分
(2) Man proposes, God disposes. 谋事在人成事在天
(3) No bees, no honey.无蜂则无蜜
(4) No pains, no gains.不劳则无获
(5) Seeing is believing.眼见为实
(6) One man，no man.孤掌难鸣
(7) First thrive, and then wives先立业，后成家。

(8) East or west, home is best走遍天下路，还是家最好
(9) A friend in need is a friend in deed.患难识知己
(10) Good health is above wealth.健康胜于财富
(11) When the cat' a away，the mice will play.山中无老虎，猴子称大王
(陈明华, 2007:15-297)
Simile
A simile makes a comparison, but is different from an ordinary, literal comparison. When we say “Jim looks like his brother Billy”, we are making an ordinary, literal comparison, for:
a) We are comparing two like elements- Jim and Billy are both human beings;
b) We mean Jim is literally like his brother in appearance.
But when we say “Jim and Billy are as like as two peas”, we are using a simile, for:
a) We are comparing two unlike elements- human beings and peas;
b) We don’t mean Jim and Billy are literally like peas, but only that they have one thing in common with peas: great similarity in appearance.
“A simile, then is a figure of speech which makes a comparison between two unlike elements having at least one quality or characteristic in common.”(Feng Cuihua,1983:3) The comparison is purely imaginative, that is, the resemblance between the two unlike things in that one particular aspect exists only in our minds, in our “inward eye” and not in the nature of the things themselves. A simile is based on association and usually has four characteristics: 1) introduced by such comparative words as “like”, “as”, “as though”, “as it were”, “similar to”, “be comparable to”, “akin to”, “be something of”, etc. 2) involving two things, one of which being the primary term, the other secondary term; 3) the two things involved should be completely different; and 4) the two things should be similar in at least one characteristic. The criterion of effectiveness of similes varies from person to person.
A simile is the most frequently used rhetorical device and has powerful rhetorical function. According to their functions, similes can be classified into three kinds, namely, the Descriptive, the Illustrative and the Illuminative. When used in proverbs, a simile can vividly and lifelikely describe various shapes, actions or states. We could see them in examples:
(1) Fire is as hurtful as healthful.火能成灾，也能造福
(2) A man without religion is like a horse without a bridle.人无信仰，犹如马无继绳
(3) Use a book as a bee does flowers.读书如蜜蜂采蜜
(4) Wit without learning is like a tree without fruit.没有学识的机智犹如没有果实的树
(5) Beauty without virtue is like a rose without scent.美而无德犹如花无香味
(6) As rust eats iron. so care eats the heart.锈能蚀铁，忧能伤人
(7) Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.比活无目的，犹如航海尤罗盘
(8) A good friend is as the sun in winter.好朋友如同冬天的阳光
(9)A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds.光说不做的人，就象只长野草的花园
(10) Choose an author as you choose a friend.择书如择友
(11) Beauty fades like a flower.色衰似花谢
(陈明华, 2007:15-297) The effect is that the reader feels like that as if he or she had been in such a scene.
A simile enables the reader to find something original in what he or she has been familiar with or familiarizes the reader with what is new to him or her. For example in (8), we may experience the same feeling in our daily life, and the simile in proverbs makes it expresses convincingly as if illustrates a lively picture before us.
Metaphor
A metaphor, like a simile, also makes a comparison between two unlike elements, but unlike a simile, this comparison is implied rather than stated.
In a simile, the words “like”, “as” are used to make the comparison, as in:
1) Jim was as cunning as a fox.
2) The world is like a stage.
In a metaphor, however, the comparison would appear simply as:
1a) Jim was a fox.
2a) The world is a stage.
A metaphor, then, is in a sense a condensed simile, differing from the latter only in form and artistry. “It is a figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another, but with no acknowledging word. It is an implied comparison between two (or more) unlike things; achieved by identifying one with the other.”(王玉龙,张德玉,2006:27) It is the application of a name of descriptive term to an object or action to which it is not strictly applicable. For example, “Money is the lens in a camera”. “the lens in a camera” in the sentence can reflect the different appearances of a person, so can money reflect the different characteristics of a person. There exists a similarity between the two.
Metaphor used in English proverbs has three main uses: descriptive, illuminative and illustrative, as can be seen from the following examples:
(1) A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever.好书如相伴终生的挚友
(2)A dwarf on a giant's shoulders sees the farther of the two.侏孺站在巨人的肩上，会看得史远
(3) Speech is the picture of the mind.言论是心灵的写照
(4) A rolling stone gathers no moss.滚石小生苔，转业小聚财
(5) Old birds are not to be caught with chaff.圈套难骗练达人
(6)A word spoken is an arrow let fly.出口的话如同离弦的箭
(7)A teacher for a day is a father for a lifetime.一日为师.终身为父
(8)Fire is a good servant but a bad master.火是忠仆，用之不慎成灾主
(9)The eye is the lamp of the body 眼睛就是身上的灯
(10)Books are ships that pass through the vast sea of time.时光好比汪洋,书籍好比航船
(11)The world's a theatre, the earth a stage, which God and Nature do with actors fill.世界是剧院，地面是舞台，演员充其中，造化巧安排
(陈明华, 2007:15-297) In these English proverbs, metaphor is used to describe the target objects. In example(1), books are described as good friends; in example(9), the eyes are said to be the lamp of the body. Inspiringly, these descriptive functions are realized in an implied way. Thus, we may get a sense of enlightenment and understand the meaning of the proverbs more impressively. In example (8), the suggestion is that fire is a good thing unless we use it properly. The illuminative function makes us examine ourselves and guide our deeds in dealing with the fire. A metaphor here expresses this effect more vividly and impressive. In example (11), the metaphor has an illustrative effect through viewing the world as theatre and the earth a stage.
Hyperbole
“Hyperbole is a figure of speech which deliberately exaggerates the truth. It is often used to express one’s strong feeling or violent emotions by remarkable imagination and literary extravagance, for the effect of strong impression, humor,
sarcasm, irony, etc, rather than to state a fact in its right perspective.” (王玉龙,张德玉,2006:97) Hyperbole is using exaggeration, not to deceive but to emphasize a feeling or to produce a humorous effect. Hyperbole may be used for intensification of feeling or emotion; for elevation to heroic or mythical status and for humor or ridicule.
Hyperbole should be both unique and reasonable, which means it should go beyond facts but can’t be divorced from reality. It is usually employed by use of numerals, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, by maximizing the meaning of words, by converting negative words into positive ones, or by being used together with other figures.
When used in English proverbs, effective hyperbole, however, is more than just to emphasize something in exaggerated terms. It can be used to achieve various literary effects: to intensify emotion, to elevate or idealize persons or events to heroic or mythical status, or to poke fun at or ridicule. Moreover, its form, too, can vary from a phrase, a sentence, to a paragraph or paragraphs of description. Thus, we can find the proverbs used hyperbole more instigating. It gives us an experience of ourselves, and enhances our feeling. Now let us see some examples:
(1)A single slip brings eternal regret.一失足成千占恨
(2)An apple a day keeps the doctor away.苹果一人吃一个，医生不求药不吃
(3)Love makes the world go round.爱情威力大，能叫地球翻
(4)Content is more than a kingdom.知足胜似王国
(5)Faith will move mountains.决心大，大山移
(6)An unfortunate man would be drowned in a teacup.人到倒霉时.杯水会淹死
(7) It happens in a moment that comes not to pass in a thousand years.天有不测风云，人有且夕祸福
(8)Idleness rusts the mind.怠惰使头脑生锈
(9)A cat has nine lives.猫有九条命
(10)Sometimes words hurl more than swards.言语能伤人，有时胜刀剑
(11)One enemy is too much. 1个敌人已太多
(Yang Zengmao,1997:20-364)
In these proverbs, we can see the heroic or mythical status, like in example (5) and example (4). The hyperbole in proverbs expresses our feelings in grand way and makes us very encouraging. That is also a reason why English proverbs are handed down from generation to generation, for it enables us to believe in ourselves and gives us confidence to do everything. And it is an important value of the western people, so the English proverbs are deeply rooted in the western culture. The hyperbole makes the proverbs live and prolonged.。