4 Semiotic and Semantic Aspects of the Proverb

The semiotic study of proverbs has long been a claim in the field of folkloristics. The earliest explicit claim in this direction goes back to Russian folklorist and semiotician Ptr G. Bogatyrev, a co-author of Roman Jakobson, who, as early as in the 1930s, explicitly stated: "The investigation of proverbs in their semiotic aspect is one of the most grateful tasks for a folklorist" (Bogatyrv, 1971: 366). In contextually appreciating this statement, one should not forget that this was the time when, despite many valuable studies from the 19 th century and earlier, proverb research became an increasingly important topic. Let it suffice to mention Friedrich Seiler's fundamental Deutsche Sprichwrterkunde (1922), or Andr Jolles' influential Einfache Formen (1930). Nevertheless, despite all achievements made at that time, the outstanding folklorist and paremiologist Archer Taylor, started his seminal book on The Proverb with the sharp and critical remark: "The proverb and related forms have long been objects of general interest and the occasion for many books, but they have attracted little serious and thorough study" (Taylor, 1931: vii).

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