Remarques sur la dimension générique et sur la dimension dénominative des proverbes

Abstract

Laurent Perrin (Universite de Geneve) : Some Remarks on the Generic and Denominative Status of Proverbs Based on Kleiber's (1989) hypothesis, according to which proverbs are denominations referring to generic situations, this article supports the idea that proverbs have in fact a double dimension, in that they are both generic and idiomatic, that is, denominative sentences; proverbs simultaneously affirm general truths and, through their idiomatic or sententious form, denominate a generic situation that is relative to a multitude of identical preliminary affirmations. Such a conception of proverbs leads us to the question of the lexicalization of rhetorical acts, especially metaphors.

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