For centuries, proverbs have provided a framework for endless transformation.
In recent decades, the modification of proverbs has taken such proportions that sometimes
we can even meet more proverb transformations than traditional proverbs. Wolfgang
Mieder has invented a term anti-proverb (or in German Antisprichwort) for such deliberate
proverb innovations. Although proverb transformations arise in a variety of forms,
several
types stand out (which are by no means mutually exclusive), e.g., adding new words
to
the original text; replacing a single word; substituting two or more words; changing
the
second part of the proverb; melding two proverbs; punning; adding literal interpretations.
The focus of this study is on the analysis of main mechanisms of proverb variation
in 43
transformations of 6 Anglo-American proverbs about children. The anti-proverbs discussed
in the present study were taken primarily from written sources.
