Family relationships in proverbs from Northern Pakistan

Abstract

Proverbs from Pakistan are one of the lesser-noted areas of paremiology. The article examines proverbs in five orally transmitted languages from northern Pakistan for statements about relationships and values within the family. Many clichés are confirmed: women are subordinate, and untrustworthy, children are wished for, but hard to raise, mothers are good, and stepmothers evil, the honour of the family must be protected. However, there are remarkably few proverbs about the stupidity of women and their talkativity. And the values depicted in the proverbs, despite cultural and geographical closeness, are not uniform. The emphasis on honour and family cohesion is much stronger in the Shina proverbs than in the proverbs of the other communities.