Propositional Frame-Based Analysis of the Semantics of Proverbs of the Russian and Chinese Languages (Based on Frame Father – Son)

Abstract

Propositional frame-based modeling is one of the most effective methods of cognitive linguistics. This method considers the interaction between the semantic and cognitive aspects of units of two typologically different languages, e.g. Russian and Chinese, in order to study the way language structures and reflects human knowledge and experience. Propositional structures are the same for all languages, but they are implemented differently in every language. The authors used the propositional frame-based analysis to identify universal and specific aspects in the semantics of proverbs based on frame father – son, which is an important fragment of the Russian and Chinese linguistic world view. The cognitive potential of paroemiological units is enormous: proverbs reflect historical, cultural, linguistic, and extralinguistic cognitive experience. Cognitivists define experience as one’s knowledge about stereotypical situations, stored in one’s mind as frames. A frame is a collection of vertex ("top") and terminal ("low") components. Vertex components are formed by concepts that are valid in relation to the stereotypical situation of the frame. As a result, they are clearly structured and constant. The "low level" is not constant, and its terminals are variable. The semantics of the proverbs in question were represented by frames. The meanings of their components formed a common and complex situation. Knowledge about this situation made it possible to perceive the meaning of each proverb in a holistic way. The proverbs could be interpreted as units that activate a certain cognitive context about the content and structure of the concepts father and son in Russian and Chinese.