Paremiological phraseologisms and their equivalents, in bilingual dictionaries, and searches in linguistic corpora that legitimize them

Abstract

Paremiology, within the scope of linguistic and lexical studies, focuses on paremiological units, structures popularly known as proverbs, which are known for conveying lessons and advice, being timeless, and transmitted collectively from one generation to the next. The paremiological units are capsules of the memory, customs, principles, and culture of a group. The study is justified by the fact that these structures have a crystallized meaning but are subject to change and may disappear, and therefore, it is essential that they be recorded, explained, and shared with future generations and speakers of other languages. This article, situated within the field of Phraseology and Contrastive Paremiology, is based on the theoretical presuppositions of Ortiz Alvarez (2000), Monteiro-Plantin (2014), among others. As for methodology, it compares, using a lexicographical corpus, five proverbs and their variations in two languages – Brazilian Portuguese and American English – observing linguistic differences and similarities. As a result, it presents reflections on the lexical, syntactic, and semantic levels, and highlights cultural and pragmatic aspects present in usage contexts in corpora through the approach of Corpus Linguistics. The examples of use aimed to validate, or refute, the meanings conveyed by the lexicographers.