A comparative Paremiological analysis of sexism prevalent in select Proverbs of Assamese and Mizo Language.
Abstract
Nothing defines culture as distinctly as language, and the element of language that best encapsulates a society’s values and beliefs is its proverbs. When examining the sociolinguistic behavior, the variations between the doctrine of languages vary from one language to another, specifically in the domain of language, culture, and gender, they are closely intertwined and they inherently form each other’s meaning. Proverbs, known as the gems of a language, are not only an important part of a language but also a “window” through which one can observe the cultural facets of a community. This paper attempts to make a comparative study of proverbs of Assamese and Mizo language with the theoretical aid of both semiotic and pragmatic approaches in the study of proverbs; also known as Proverb studies or Paremiology. It is hoped that the discussion will facilitate deeper insights into the linguistic constraints and dehumanization of women through the study of proverbs in the Mizo and Assamese languages. The analysis of the proverbs is rooted primarily in descriptive analysis augmented by theories and ideas related to language and gender. In addition to the theoretical framework, we incorporate cross-cultural contrastive research methods to analyze proverbs from both languages.
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