Editing Proverb (section)

==Paremiology==
{{main|Paremiology}}
[[File:Books on proverb study.jpg|thumb|A sample of books used in the study of proverbs.]]
[[File:Proverb dictionaries.jpg|thumb|Various proverb dictionaries]]

The study of proverbs is called '''paremiology''' which has a variety of uses in the study of such topics as [[philosophy]], [[linguistics]], and [[folklore]]. There are several types and styles of proverbs which are analyzed within Paremiology as is the use and misuse of familiar expressions which are not strictly 'proverbial' in the dictionary definition of being fixed sentences.

===Paremiological minimum===
Grigorii Permjakov<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www2.arnes.si/~bridges/proverb_wisdom.htm|title=Photo and Web page about Permjakov}}</ref> developed the concept of the core set of proverbs that full members of society know, what he called the "paremiological minimum" (1979). For example, an adult American is expected to be familiar with "Birds of a feather flock together", part of the American paremiological minimum. However, an average adult American is not expected to know "Fair in the cradle, foul in the saddle", an old English proverb that is not part of the current American paremiological minimum. Thinking more widely than merely proverbs, Permjakov observed "every adult Russian language speaker (over 20 years of age) knows no fewer than 800 proverbs, proverbial expressions, popular literary quotations and other forms of cliches".<ref>p. 91 Grigorii L'vovich Permiakov. 1989. On the question of a Russian paremiological minimum. ''Proverbium'' 6:91–102.</ref> Studies of the paremiological minimum have been done for a limited number of languages, including Ukrainian,<ref>Vyshya, Natalia. 2008. Minimo paremiologioco ucraiano y peculiardades de traduccion. ''Paremia'' 17: 101–110.</ref> Russian,<ref>Grigorii L'vovich Permiakov. 1989. On the question of a Russian paremiological minimum. ''Proverbium'' 6:91–102.</ref> Hungarian,<ref>Katalin Vargha, Anna T. Litovkina. 2007. Proverb is as proverb does: A preliminary analysis of a survey on the use of Hungarian proverbs and anti-proverbs. ''Acta Ethnographica Hungarica'' 52.1: 135–155.</ref><ref>Forgács, Tomás. 2014. Über das Parömische minimum des Ungarischen. ''Proverbium'' 31:255–278.</ref> Czech,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://ucnk.ff.cuni.cz/doc/parmin.rtf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070609230916/http://ucnk.ff.cuni.cz/doc/parmin.rtf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-06-09 |title=Paremiological Minimum of Czech: The Corpus Evidence – 1. Introduction. Data for Proverb Research |publisher=Ucnk.ff.cuni.cz |access-date=2012-09-20}}</ref> Somali,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://kapchits.narod.ru/books.htm |title=Kapchits article on popularity of various Somali proverbs}}</ref> Chinese,<ref>Huang, Xiaofang, and Abdullah Mohd Nawi. "Establishment of a Chinese Paremiological Minimum Based on International English Media." Theory & Practice in Language Studies (TPLS) 14, no. 1 (2024).</ref> Nepali,<ref>pp. 389–490, Valerie Inchley. 2010. ''Sitting in my house dreaming of Nepal.'' Kathmandu: EKTA.</ref> Gujarati,<ref>Doctor, Raymond. 2005. Towards a Paremiological Minimum For Gujarati Proverbs. ''Proverbium'' 22:51–70.</ref> Spanish,<ref>Julia Sevilla Muñoz. 2010. El refranero hoy. ''Paremia'' 19: 215–226.</ref><ref>SEVILLA MUÑOZ, Julia y BARBADILLO DE LA FUENTE, M.ª Teresa, El mínimo paremiológico español. Madrid: Centro Virtual Cervantes (Instituto Cervantes). Biblioteca fraseológica y paremiológica, serie «Mínimo paremiológico», n.º 2, 2021, 215 p., {{ISBN|978-84-09-31657-1}}</ref> [[Esperanto]],<ref>Fielder, Sabine. 1999. Phraseology in planned languages. ''[[Language Problems and Language Planning]]'' 23.2: 175–187, see p. 178.</ref> Polish,<ref>Szpila, Grzegorz. Minimum paremiologiczne języka polskiego – badanie pilotażowe", ''Język Polski'' 1/2002: 36–42.</ref> and [[Croatian language|Croatian]].<ref>Grzybek, Peter, Danica Škara, and Zdenka Heyken. "Der Weisheit der Gasse auf der Spur. Eine empirische Pilotstudie zur Bekanntheit kroatischer Sprichwörter." ''Zeitschrift für Balkanologie'' 29, no. 2 (1993): 85-98.</ref> Two noted examples of attempts to establish a paremiological minimum in America are by Haas (2008) and [[E. D. Hirsch, Jr.|Hirsch]], Kett, and Trefil (1988), the latter more prescriptive than descriptive. There is not yet a recognized standard method for calculating the paremiological minimum, as seen by comparing the various efforts to establish the paremiological minimum in a number of languages.<ref>Ďurčo, Peter. 2014. Empirical Research and Paremiological Minimum. In ''Introduction to Paremiology. A Comprehensive Guide to Proverb Studies'' edited by Hrisztalina Hrisztova-Gotthardt and Melita Aleksa Varga, 183–205. Berlin: De Gruyter Open. Online: [http://www.degruyter.com/viewbooktoc/product/449649 Open Access version].</ref> "No really convincing criteria have been offered for the size of a paremiological minimum."<ref>Čermák, František. "Paremiological minimum of Czech: The corpus evidence." ''Flut von Texten - Vielvalt der Kulturen. Ascona 2001 zur Methodologie und Kulturspezifik der Phraseologie,'' edited by Harald Burger, Annelies Häcki Bufofer, G. Greciano. Hohengehren: Schneider Verlag 2003, 15-31.</ref>

===Sources for proverb study===
A seminal work in the study of proverbs is Archer Taylor's ''The Proverb'' (1931), later republished by [[Wolfgang Mieder]] with Taylor's Index included (1985/1934). A good introduction to the study of proverbs is Mieder's 2004 volume, ''Proverbs: A Handbook''. Mieder has also published a series of bibliography volumes on proverb research, as well as a large number of articles and other books in the field. Stan Nussbaum has edited a large collection on proverbs of Africa, published on a CD, including reprints of out-of-print collections, original collections, and works on analysis, bibliography, and application of proverbs to Christian ministry (1998).<ref>Mbiti, John. 2002. The African proverbs project and after. ''Lexikos'', 12(1): 256–263.</ref> Paczolay has compared proverbs across Europe and published a collection of similar proverbs in 55 languages (1997). There is an academic journal of proverb study, ''[[Proverbium (journal)|Proverbium]]'' ({{ISSN|0743-782X}}), many back issues of which are available online.<ref>{{cite journal |title=[Search results: Proverbium] |journal=Proverbium |publisher=Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit bi-Yerushalayim / University of Vermont / Ohio State University |date=2023 |access-date=1 November 2023 |url= http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006930797 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130715020433/http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006930797 |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 July 2013 |via=Hathi Trust}}</ref> A volume containing articles on a wide variety of topics touching on proverbs was edited by Mieder and [[Alan Dundes]] (1994/1981). ''Paremia'' is a Spanish-language journal on proverbs, with articles available online.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/paremia/ |title=Web access to ''Paremia''}}</ref> There are also papers on proverbs published in conference proceedings volumes from the annual Interdisciplinary Colloquium on Proverbs<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.colloquium-proverbs.org/icp/en/ |title=Conference website |publisher=Colloquium-proverbs.org |access-date=2013-08-30}}</ref> in [[Tavira Municipality|Tavira]], Portugal. Mieder has published a two-volume ''International Bibliography of Paremiology and Phraseology'', with a topical, language, and author index.<ref>Wolfgang Mieder. 2008. ''International Bibliography of Paremiology and Phraseology''. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.</ref> Mieder has also published a bibliography of collections of proverbs from around the world.<ref>Mieder, Wolfgang. 2011. ''International Bibliography of Paremiography''. (Supplement Series of Proverbium, 34.) Burlington, VT: University of Vermont.</ref> A broad introduction to proverb study, ''Introduction to Paremiology'', edited by Hrisztalina Hrisztova-Gotthardt and Melita Aleksa Varga has been published in both hardcover and free open access, with articles by a dozen different authors.<ref>''Introduction to Paremiology. A Comprehensive Guide to Proverb Studies'' edited by Hrisztalina Hrisztova-Gotthardt and Melita Aleksa Varga. Berlin: De Gruyter Open. Online: [http://www.degruyter.com/viewbooktoc/product/449649 Open Access version].</ref> In 2023, Wolfgang Mieder produced a new bibliography volume with 6,364 entries, available for free download from the Web: ''International Bibliography of Paremiology and Phraseology (2008-2022)''.<ref>[https://naklada.ffos.hr/knjige/ff/catalog/book/15 PDF of Mieder's bibliography for free download]</ref> For those who are studying traditional proverbs, there is a book of ideas and techniques for proverb study, freely downloadable: ''Proverb Studies: A Practical Manual''.<ref>Unseth, Peter. 2025. ''Proverb Studies: A Practical Manual'' [https://www.diu.edu/documents/Unseth_Proverb-Studies.pdf]</ref>

===Noteworthy proverb scholars (paremiologists and paremiographers)===
<gallery>
File:Holbein-erasmus.jpg|[[Erasmus]] (1466–1536)
File:Retrato de Juan de Mal Lara.jpg|[[Juan de Mal Lara]] (1524–1571)
File:Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther.png|Bishop [[Samuel Ajayi Crowther]] ({{Circa|1809}}–1891)
File:Elias Lönnrot portrait-2.jpg|[[Elias Lönnrot]] (1802–1884)
File:Samuel Adalberg.jpg|[[Samuel Adalberg]] (1868–1939)
File:Photo Demetrios Loukatos.jpg|[[Dimitrios Loukatos]] (1908–2003)
File:Wolfgang Mieder.jpg|[[Wolfgang Mieder]]
File:MinekeSchipper.JPG|[[Mineke Schipper]]
File:Galit Hasan Rokem.jpg|[[Galit Hasan-Rokem]]
File:Dora Sakayan, photograph by Marine Anakhatounian.jpg|[[Dora Sakayan]]
File:Gotzon Garate.jpg|[[Gotzon Garate Goihartzun]]
File:Joe Healey in full African Shirt.jpeg|[[Joseph G. Healey|Joe Healey]]
File:Andrzej Halemba.jpg|[[Andrzej Halemba]]
</gallery>
The study of proverbs has been built by a number of notable scholars and contributors. Earlier scholars were more concerned with collecting than analyzing. [[Desiderius Erasmus]] was a Latin scholar (1466–1536), whose collection of Latin proverbs, known as ''[[Adagia]]'', spread Latin proverbs across Europe.<ref>Erasmus, Desiderius. Adages in Collected Works of Erasmus. Trans. R.A.B Mynors et al. Volumes 31–36. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1982–2006.</ref> [[Juan de Mal Lara]] was a 16th century Spanish scholar, one of his books being 1568 ''Philosophia vulgar'', the first part of which contains one thousand and one sayings. Hernán Núñez published a collection of Spanish proverbs (1555).

In the 19th century, a growing number of scholars published collections of proverbs, such as [[Samuel Adalberg]] who published collections of Yiddish proverbs (1888 & 1890) and Polish proverbs (1889–1894). [[Samuel Ajayi Crowther]], the [[Anglican]] bishop in Nigeria, published a collection of [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]] proverbs (1852). [[Elias Lönnrot]] published a collection of Finnish proverbs (1842).

From the 20th century onwards, proverb scholars were involved in not only collecting proverbs, but also analyzing and comparing proverbs. [[Alan Dundes]] was a 20th century American folklorist whose scholarly output on proverbs led Wolfgang Mieder to refer to him as a "pioneering paremiologist".<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol35/mieder.pdf |title=Alan Dundes as Pioneering Paremiologist}}</ref> [[Matti Kuusi]] was a 20th century Finnish paremiologist, the creator of the Matti Kuusi international type system of proverbs.<ref>Lauhakangas, Outi. 2013. The Matti Kuusi International Database of Proverbs. ''Oral Tradition'' 28/2 (2013): 217–222. ([http://journal.oraltradition.org/files/articles/28ii/06_28.2.pdf Article on his Proverb Type System.] {{Webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171201034759/http://journal.oraltradition.org/files/articles/28ii/06_28.2.pdf |date=2017-12-01}})</ref> With encouragement from [[Archer Taylor]],<ref>Lauhakangas, Outi. 2014. Categorization of proverbs, p. 59. ''Introduction to Paremiology'', ed. by Hrisztalina Hrisztova-Gotthardt and Melita Aleksa Varga, pp. 49–67. Berlin: de Gruyter.</ref> he founded the journal ''Proverbium: Bulletin d'Information sur les Recherches Parémiologiques'', published from 1965 to 1975 by the Society for Finnish Literature, which was later restarted as an annual volume, ''[[Proverbium (journal)|Proverbium: International Yearbook of Proverb Scholarship]]''. Archer Taylor was a 20th century American scholar, best known for his "magisterial"<ref>p. xiv, Mieder, Wolfgang. ''Proverbs: A handbook''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.</ref> book ''The Proverb''.<ref>1931. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.</ref> [[Dimitrios Loukatos]] was a 20th century Greek proverb scholar, author of such works as ''Aetiological Tales of Modern Greek Proverbs''.<ref>''Aetiological Tales of Modern Greek Proverbs'' (Ermis: Athens, 1972).</ref> [[Arvo Krikmann]] (1939–2017) was an Estonian proverb scholar, whom Wolfgang Mieder called "one of the leading paremiologists in the world"<ref>p. vi. Wolfgang Mieder. 2009. Editor’s Preface. ''Proverb semantics: Studies in structure, logic, and metaphor'', edited by Wolfgang Mieder, pp. v-viii. (Supplement Series to ''Proverbium'', 29.) Burlington, VT: University of Vermont.</ref> and "master folklorist and paremiologist".<ref>p. 5. Wolfgang Mieder. Arvo Krikmann: Master folklorist and paremiologist. ''Proverbium'' 31: 1–10.</ref> [[Elisabeth Piirainen]] was a German scholar with 50 proverb-related publications.<ref>p. 640–646. Wolfgang Mieder. 2009 ''International Bibliography of Paremiology and Phraseology''. Berlin: de Gruyter.</ref>

Current proverb scholars have continued the trend to be involved in analysis as well as collection of proverbs. [[Claude Buridant]] is a 20th century French scholar whose work has concentrated on [[Romance languages]].<ref>1976. Nature and function of proverbs in jeux-partis. ''Revue des sciences humaines'' 163.3 (1976): 377–418.</ref> [[Galit Hasan-Rokem]] is an Israeli scholar, associate editor of ''Proverbium: The yearbook of international proverb scholarship'', since 1984. She has written on proverbs in Jewish traditions.<ref>Hasan-Rokem, Galit. Web of life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic literature. Stanford University Press, 2000.</ref> [[Joseph G. Healey]] is an American Catholic missionary in Kenya who has led a movement to sponsor African proverb scholars to collect proverbs from their own language communities.<ref>http://www.afriprov.org/index.php/meetings/624-minutes-of-the-meeting-of-the-african-proverbs-working-group-saturday-28-april-2012-.html {{Webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041820/http://www.afriprov.org/index.php/meetings/624-minutes-of-the-meeting-of-the-african-proverbs-working-group-saturday-28-april-2012-.html |date=2017-12-01}} ''Minutes of the Meeting of the African Proverbs Working Group,'' ''Christ the Teacher Parish, Kenyatta University'' Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday, 28 April 2012</ref> This led Wolfgang Mieder to dedicate the "International Bibliography of New and Reprinted Proverb Collections" section of ''Proverbium'' 32 to Healey.<ref>p. 457. International Bibliography of New and Reprinted Proverb Collections. ''Proverbium'' 32: 457–466.</ref> [[Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett]] is a scholar of Jewish history and folklore, including proverbs.<ref>Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara. "Toward a theory of proverb meaning." ''Proverbium'' 22 (1973): 821–827.</ref> [[Wolfgang Mieder]] is a German-born proverb scholar who has worked his entire academic career in the US. He is the editor of ''Proverbium'' and the author of the two volume ''International Bibliography of Paremiology and Phraseology''.<ref>2009 ''International Bibliography of Paremiology and Phraseology''. Berlin: de Gruyter.</ref> He has been honored by four [[festschrift]] publications.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.uvm.edu/~cas/?Page=News&storyID=13676|title=College of Arts and Sciences – College of Arts and Sciences – The University of Vermont|website=www.uvm.edu}}</ref><ref>Kevin McKenna, ed. 2009. ''The Proverbial 'Pied Piper': A Festschrift Volume of Essays in Honor of Wolfgang Mieder on the Occasion of His Sixty-Fifth Birthday.'' New York: Peter Lang. {{ISBN|978-1-4331-0489-3}}</ref><ref>Christian Grandl and Kevin McKenna, ed. 2015. Bis dat, qui cito dat Gegengabe in Paremiology, Folklore, Language and Literature Honoring Wolfgang Mieder on His Seventieth Birthday.Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. {{ISBN|978-3-631-64872-8}}</ref><ref>Nolte, Andreas and Dennis Mahoney. 2019. ''Living by the Golden Rule: Mentor – Scholar – World Citizen: A Festschrift for Wolfgang Mieder’s 75th Birthday.'' Bern: Peter Lang.</ref> He has also been recognized by biographical publications that focused on his scholarship.<ref>Lauhakangas, Outi. 2012. In honorem Wolfgang Mieder. In ''Program of the Sixth Interdisciplinary Colloquium on Proverbs, 4th to 11th November 2012, at Tavira, Portugal,'' Rui B. Soares and Outi Lauhakangas, eds., pp. 81–84. Tavira: Tipograpfia Tavirense.</ref><ref>Jones, Amy. 2012. Wolfgang Mieder: Ein Fuβ in beiden Ländern. In ''Sprache als Heimat'', A. Jones, ed. ''Quasi. Middlebury [College] Zeitschrift'' 1:52–58.</ref> [[Dora Sakayan]] is a scholar who has written about German and Armenian studies, including ''Armenian Proverbs: A Paremiological Study with an Anthology of 2,500 Armenian Folk Sayings Selected and Translated into English''.<ref>''Armenian Proverbs: A Paremiological Study with an Anthology of 2,500 Armenian Folk Sayings Selected and Translated into English'', Delmar & New York: Caravan Books, First edition: 1994, Second and revised edition: 1995</ref> An extensive introduction addresses the language and structure,<ref>Sakayan, Dora. "On the Grammar of Armenian Proverbs." In: John A. C. Greppin (ed.), ''Proceedings. Fourth International Conference on Armenian Linguistics''. [[Cleveland State University]], Cleveland, September 14–19, 1991, Delmar & New York: Caravan Books, 1992, pp. 171–201</ref> as well as the origin of Armenian proverbs (international, borrowed and specifically Armenian proverbs). [[Mineke Schipper]] is a Dutch scholar, best known for her book of worldwide proverbs about women, ''Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet – Women in Proverbs from Around the World''.<ref>Yale University Press, 2004</ref> [[Edward Zellem]] is an American proverb scholar who has edited books of Afghan proverbs, developed a method of collecting proverbs via the Web.<ref>Unseth, Peter. 2016. Comparing methods of collecting proverbs: Learning to value working with a community, p. 7.[http://www.gial.edu/documents/gialens/Vol8-3/Unseth_collecting_proverbs.pdf Comparing methods of collecting proverbs] {{Webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160822202810/http://www.gial.edu/documents/gialens/Vol8-3/Unseth_collecting_proverbs.pdf |date=2016-08-22}}</ref>