STEREOTYPES OF FEMALE FAMILY ROLES IN CHINESE AND ENGLISH PROVERBS

Abstract

The object of this study is the linguistic representation of the traditional female family roles of the Han and Anglo-Saxon peoples through proverbs. It is based on the theory of “linguistic stereotypes” and explains the characteristics of Chinese and English proverbs as a linguistic stereotype in terms of language form and content semantics. We aim to analyse the traditional family types of Han and Anglo-Saxon peoples before the 20th century, identify the types of female family roles and the corresponding female family role stereotypes in Chinese and English proverbs, and reveal the ethnic and cultural basis for the formation of female family role stereotypes. We identify 10 types of female family roles in Chinese and English proverbs in the context of which we analyse the types of Han and Anglo-Saxon family structures in the period between the 16th and 20th centuries. We summarise the stereotypes of female family roles in Chinese and English proverbs and the reasons for their formation. Finally, we analyse the ten types of female family role stereotypes at the level of the content of stereotypes and explore the cultural reasons for the formation of female family role stereotypes in proverbs based on the linguistic stereotype theory in linguistic culture. The female family role stereotypes summarised in this paper are all linguistic responses to the Sino-British ethnic community’s perception of women. On the whole, Chinese and Anglo-Saxon women are subordinate in the family, and their status, words, actions and thoughts are influenced by the different living environments and humanistic customs of the two nations, resulting in different ways of thinking, which is reflected in the language through the proverbs that exist in the contemporary Chinese and English languages.