Proverb on weather in English

My interest in weather started when I was very young and while it’s difficult to point to one event or one side of nature that developed my weather interests

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH AND MODERN LANGUAGES

~~~~~~~oOo~~~~~~~

ASSIGNMENT ON English semantic

Topic: Proverb on weather in English

Hanoi, 2009

Part A: Introduction

My interest in weather started when I was very young and while it’s difficult to point to one event or one side of nature that developed my weather interests I have many memories of hot summer days, billowing clouds that developed in the thunderstorms, and brilliant flashes of lightning as big thunderstorms pounded my neighborhood All of these things played a part in

my love of weather, but they weren’t the only things As a child, I found just

as much fascination in reading books about weather One of my favorite books, though I don't remember the title, was a book that featured numerous weather proverbs It was always fun to read the proverb, and then watch the skies to see if the weather really changed as the proverb suggested

Weather proverbs are an ancient part of human society Some weather proverbs are quite correct, depending on where on is When considering weather proverbs it is important to remember that weather patterns move very differently in the English Proverb on weather _ the specific part of each language, make the language become more vivid and beautiful They are used widely nowadays in the daily conversation book, and mass media…

Part b: development

Every language has proverbs Learning and understanding them is an important aspect of the mastery of language English language is no exception

as it contains a large number of proverbs which are extensively used

“Proverbs are the wisdom of people” Many various definitions are mention

to proverbs:

"Proverbs are popular fixed sentences expressing a rule of conduct or wisdom in a vivid, short form."

(Rohrich-Mieder 1977 page 2.)

"A proverb is a short sentence of wisdom."

(Quoted by Mieder 1989 p 15.)

"A proverb is a standard statement of moral and colloquial imperatives

in fixed metaphorical paradigmatic form, it deals with fundamental logical relationships."

(Barley 1972 page 741.)

"A proverb is a general statement or judgment, explaining, classifying

or assessing a situation

"( Harald Burger, quoted by W Mieder 1977 page 2.)

"A proverb is a popular set phrase having no author, known mostly in different languages, expressing in one sentence a principle, advice, a genuine

or assumed truth in a general, concise form, its basic idea being of general validity, or at least its user considers it as such."

(O Nagy 1979 p 645.)

II) Proverb with weather in English.

Man's concern with weather has been well documented throughout history Humans have sought to understand, predict and control the weather Each culture has sought to understand weather through stories that explain how the Sun was created, how and why the wind blows, why we have frost and how fire came to the world

This concept is reflected in the English proverb:

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight;

Red sky in morning, sailors take warning."

(Schneider, 1996) First of all, the proverb refers to night, and morning In this case night means sunset, and morning means sunrise Because of the way our atmosphere filters sunlight, you generally won't see red skies during the middle of the day However, when the sun is low in the sky, such as at sunrise and sunset, light from the sun gets filtered by our atmosphere, and the shorter wavelengths of blue and green get scattered more easily The longer wavelengths of red and orange are then allowed to pass through the atmosphere where they highlight clouds and the sky on the horizon near sunrise and sunset That tells us two important things First, there are no clouds on the distant horizon to block the sun’s light, and secondly, there are

no storms between us and the setting sun, so quiet weather will likely continue through the night and into the next day, if not longer Therefore, any clouds reflecting the orange and red rays of the setting sun are producing a pretty scene, but typically nothing more…and so we have, “Sailors Delight”

The saying “clear moon, frost soon” is applicable to all regions of the Earth, because when the sky is clear, there is no insulating cloud cover to prevent frost, so during the winter, a clear moon can be a strong indicator of frost “Halo around the moon, rain or snow soon” is a bit less reliable; the

halo is caused by crystals in the sky, which may or may not develop into wet weather You may also have heard weather proverbs about stars huddling together before poor weather; these proverbs reference the fact that when heavy cloud cover obscures much of the sky, it can look like the visible stars are clinging to each other

"A year of snow, a year of plenty"

A continuous covering of snow on farmland and orchards delays the blossoming of fruit trees until the season of killing frosts is over It also prevents the alternate thawing and freezing which destroys wheat and other winter grains

"Rainbow in the morning gives you fair warning."

In the morning, when the sun is in the east, the shower and its rainbow are in the west As the weather in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere moves mostly from west to east, the morning rainbow indicates that rain is moving from the west toward the observer

Old weather proverbs and saws have their inception in atmospheric conditions Properly interpreted, these conditions give accurate information on what is likely to happen in the next few hours For instance, a red sky means rain

or dry weather according to the time of the day it occurs The principle is based

on certain optics and conditions of the atmosphere Another example: smoke hovering near the surface of the ground indicates heavy moisture in the air When it ascends straight up there is little likelihood of rain

Among the more reliable weather proverbs are:

_“The moon and the weather may change together,

But a change of the moon, will not change the weather.”

_“A ring around the sun or moon, means rain or snow coming soon”

_“When grass is dry at morning light

Look for rain before the night.”

_“Dew on the grass, rain won't come to pass.”

III) Different between idioms and proverbs

It is not easy for learners to identify exactly what the idioms and proverbs Each proverb has not only its own complete meaning but also a prediction with function of declaration On the other hand, proverbs change with the passing of the time and some even go out of use together Proverb is

a full made saying which itself exposes a complete meaning manner the content of comment, an experience, a morality or criticism Whereas, idiom are ready part and a part of sentence that people use but itself does not express

a full idea Idiom is only a words group, not a full sentence, but proverb however short it is, still a complete sentence Proverb is a kind of composition, in terms of content, proverb is an evaluation of the people’s experience on labor, invention, family life, social life, etc However, idiom is

a familiar phrase, similar to a word and does not express a complete meaning Therefore, the structure and the content are 2 main to compare proverb and idiom On the other hand, the basic differences in terms of content of idiom and proverb are the differences on con tent of forms thinking: notion and prediction They give the emphasis that idiom is notion and proverb is prediction

Different from proverbs, idioms are not a section of folklore but a section of language An idiom itself can not express an idea completely so it equals a word only

For example: _ “Make the best of a bad job”

Phải biết chấp nhận hoàn cảnh

_ “A man can only die once”

Ai cũng phải chết một lần

Part C: Conclusion

In this essay, I have aimed at showing some insights into the role of weather proverbs in language structure and use Through three main I said in development Besides, by looking at the social meaning they convey, I have found evidence for the systematic process of conventionalization that takes place in proverbs throughout different languages Such process involves a number of cognitive mechanisms that have been analyzed This kind of study has also served to understand how grammatical resources are developed in them I defend the view Though proverbial expressions may vary across cultures and may express different cultural scripts Nonetheless, a further study on languages other than English would provide evidence for their universal systematic Finally, it is important to note the interest and usefulness

of proverbs They are highly economic resources to transmit ideas, and thus, they are pragmatically efficient Even more, they are informative for anyone who wants to have access to the traditions and to the popular believes of a community of speakers For this, they are also extremely valuable for sociolinguistic purposes What does become evident, however, even from a cursory review such as this, is the extent to which proverbs form an integral part of oral cultures More than being mere objects of amusement, or even devices for learning, proverbs in fact both reflect and contribute to patterns in people's lives, and therefore can form a powerful basis for community cohesion

Internet sites:

http://www.wxdude.com/proverb.html

http://www.google.com.vn/proverb on weather

http://en.wikipedia.or/wiki/proverb