Филологические науки/ 3. Теоретические и методологические проблемы исследования языка

Soldatkina T.A.

Mari State University, Yoshkar-Ola

Paremiological Units With Lexemes “Man”/“Woman” of Negative and Positive Assessment in the Russian Language

The peculiar feature of the Russian proverbial holding is that of vernacular character of the lexemes a “man” and a “woman”, thus with the negative connotation of the component “baba”. There was no evidence of any proverbs containing neutral components of the lexemes “man” and “woman”. In general, proverbs containing components “husband” and “wife” can also be related to the components “man” and “woman”, so they have been analysed as well. Several semantic groups with positive and negative assessment have been singled out in the process of investigation.

The first one has to deal with the category of intelligence. Thus a Russian woman is treated as one who is not intelligent enough. Волос долог, да ум короток. Лучше камень долбить, чем бабу уму учить.The idiom “sparrow-brain” is related to an immature mind typical of a woman. In this regard her contrast with the birds and objects of everyday life is traced in the proverbs of humiliating character: Курица – не птица, баба – не человек. Бабий ум – бабье коромысло: и криво, и зарубисто, и на оба конца.The female intelligent is treated as that of a practical wisdom when a woman is likely to give an advice on any account: Женский ум лучше всяких дум. Умная жена, как нищему сума.

Male’s intelligence and stupidity have been revealed in the following proverbs: У умного мужа жена выхолена, у глупого по будням затаскана. У умного мужа и глупая жена досужа. Глупому мужу красная жена дороже красного яйца.Male and female intelligence is opposed in the folk state of awareness: Мужа чтят за разум, жену по уму. Утро вечера мудренее, жена мужа удалее.

The following semantic group encounters the numerous proverbs about male and female character traits. The idea of female weakness as well as of male’s strength and courage is embodied in the proverbs. It should be stressed that it is not typical of a woman to battle with a man. So female endurance and humility, her willingness to endure everything are highlighted in the proverbs: Баба, что горшок: что ни влей – все кипит. Баба, что мешок: что положишь, то и несет. However endurance makes the woman stronger and even ambitious in achieving her goals: Жена упорна – ни мякиш, ни корка. Женский обычай – не мытьем, так катаньем (а свое возьмет). Бабе хоть кол на голове теши. The roots of these proverbs lie in the image of a courageous woman of the Old Russia, when she was awarded such male qualities as determination and stamina.

The following subgroup of the Russian proverbs is formed by the proverbs with female negative personal traits, such as wicked, grumbling, always quarreling: Злая жена – мирской мятеж. Перед злой женою сатана – младенец непорочный. Сварливая жена в доме пожар. It is not a surprise that men prefer the worst fate than a wicked wife: Лучше жить со змеею, чем со злою женою. Лучше камень долбить, нежели злую жену учить. Лучше раздразнить собаку, нежели бабу. Falsehood and deceit are the female traits criticized for the most part: Лукавой бабы и в ступе не истолчешь. Кто бабе поверит, трех дней не проживет. Женская лесть без зубов, а с костьми сгложет. The female image is often compared with that of the devil. It is justified by the fact that women have been using charms, fortune-telling, applying to the evil spirits: Баба бредит, да черт ей верит.Баба да бес – один у них вес. Где сатана не сможет, туда бабу пошлет. За черта отдай ее, и того переживет.

No doubt that a woman is often unpredictable and inconsistent: Пока баба с печи летит, семьдесят семь дум передумает. У бабы семьдесят две увертки в день. Crying is very woman-like though it shows the female weakness: Баба слезами беде помогает. Бабьи слезы, чем больше унимать, тем хуже. Long tongue, gossips, shallow talks have been always mocked at especially in the proverbs: Бабий язык, куда ни завались, достанет. Где баба, там рынок; где две, там базар.

The male drawbacks have been introduced in the proverbs side by side with female negative qualities: Робкий муж и лестовок боится.Честный муж одну только жену обманывает. Не сказывает муж жене, сколько у него денег в сундуке, да сама знает. However being married and patient is more important, so woman are ready to put up with an inconsistent husband: Хоть лыком сшит, да муж.Хоть плох муженек, да затулье мое; завалюсь за него – не боюсь никого. The men in the Russian proverbs possess such positive qualities as hard-work, diligence, commitment to care about the family: Муж – как бы хлеба нажить, а жена – как бы мужа избыть. Муж в поле пахать, а жена руками махать.

As it was mentioned matrimony is of great importance in male and female lives. The Russian proverbs revealed the benefits of family life because the family is the basis of a patriarchal society with its norms and principles. Here, first of all, it is important to make the right choice in order to live happily and not to part: Добрую жену взять – ни скуки, ни горя не знать. Первая жена от бога, вторая от человека, третья от черта. Financial state of things is important when choosing the wife. It is recommended not to choose a rich bride to save your independence: Женино добро колом в глотке стоит. Жениным добром не сведешь дом.However there is an exception to every rule: Будь жена хоть коза, лишь бы золотые рога. The borderline between the life before and after marriage has been drawn: Холостой – простой, а женатый – рогатый, вдовец – что зяблец. Девка красна до замужества.

A well-known fact is that the husband was the head of the family, which was legitimized by a set of rules, called “patriarchal despotism” in Russia. No doubt it has been reflected in a number of Russian proverbs, which stresse the indisputable authority of the husband in the family: Муж в дом, что глава (что крест) на церкви. Жена мужу пластырь, муж жене пастырь.

In the Russian Christian culture female beginning was secondary and subordinated to the male one. The wife should obey her husband: Кто жене волю дает, тот сам себя обкрадывает. Курице не быть петухом, а бабе мужиком. It is stressed in some proverbs that yielding the wife will turn out in misfortune: Худое дело, коли жена не велела. Не пройдет без греха, у кого жена лиха.

Relationships are an important aspect in the lives of men and women. They are formed in different ways in every family: Не надобен и клад, коли у мужа, с женой лад. Муж с женой бранится, да под одну шубу ложится. No one should interfere with wife and husband’s quarrels: Муж с женой ругайся, а третий не мешайся! Жену с мужем бог разбирает.

Male disregard to women is revealed in the comparison with inanimate objects: Жена не гусли: поиграв, на стенку не повесишь. Жена не рукавица, с руки не сбросишь (за пояс не заткнешь). Positively marked proverbs are rather rare: Помилуй, господи, тещу да жену: а сам-то я и как-нибудь проживу. In the social sphere of communication strong negative connotation is attributed to the relationship between women and men regarding them as completely different and opposite sexes: Муж в бане, а жена в амбаре – уговориться не могут.Муж по дрова, а жена со двора.

The interdependence between males and females is stated in the Russian language proverbs fund. Whatever the relationship between husband and wife are, they still need each other: Жена от мужа на пядень, а муж от жены на сажень. Comparison is used to strengthen their interconnection: Без мужа голова не покрыта; без жены дом не крыт. Что гусь без воды, то мужик без жены. It is remarkable that proverbs reflect the integrity of the husband and his wife: Муж – голова, жена – душа.

In spite of integrity the group of proverbs reflects domestic violence. The head of the family had to be severe with his wife and family not to be despised by the neighbours. This fact is emphasized in the proverbs: Всем бита, и об печь бита, только печью не бита. Чем больше жену бьешь, тем наварней щи. In some cases, physical abuse is regarded as the love for his wife and is reflected in the form of instructions to the action: Шубу бей – теплее, жену бей – милее. Люби жену, как душу, тряси ее, как грушу. However the situation has radically changed nowadays: В стары годы бывало, мужья жен бивали, а ныне живет, что жена мужа бьет.

The section “widowhood” can be singled out into a special one. Proverbs contain the statement that widowhood is a hard burden: У вдовушки обычай не девичий. На вдовий плач глядя, и мужик убивается. Widowhood is a hardship for a man as well, especially if he has to bring up the children: Вдовец – деткам не отец, а сам круглый сирота. The attitude to getting married a widow is ambivalent: Не видал беды, кто не сватал молодой вдовы.Вдову взять - спокойнее спать. The wife’s death as the husband’s tiny desire may be also found in paremilogical holding: Дважды жена мила бывает: как в избу введут да как вон понесут.Красные похороны, когда муж жену хоронит.

Proverbs regarding the age of men and women can be identified in the Russian paremiological fund. It is noteworthy that a parallel between age and unequal marriage is drawn in the Russian proverbs. It is stated that the young woman is not a couple for an old man: Молодица у старика – ни девка, ни баба, ни вдова.По старом муже молода жена не тужит. Старого мужа соломкой прикрою, молодого сама отогрею.

Quite a limited number of proverbs reflects female and male beauty: Всего милее, у кого жена всех белее. Жена красавица – слепому радость.As is well-known, the ideal of a beautiful woman in Russia was a well-built woman, which was also often referred to as the word “baba”, the deviation from this ideal was unlikely: Худая жена – лишняя сухота. The primacy of economic or moral qualities of women in comparison with beauty that ranks the second place is mainly highlighted in this section. Appearance is not so important, as deeds: Красота приглядится, а щи не прихлебаются.Собой красава, да душа трухлява.

Tradition of labour division has been established in the Russian culture. Sharing responsibilities between men and women has been stated in proverbs:

От хозяина чтоб пахло ветром, от хозяйки дымом. Жена пряди рубашки, а муж тяни гуж. The woman stays at home, keeps house, and the man is engaged in the affairs outside. Thus, the culture has excluded the woman from the society, made the home her world: Баба да кошка в избе, мужик да собака на дворе. Бабе дорога – oт печи до порога. Initially, the “oven” was the embodiment of the female beginning in the house, the center of women’s space. In the traditional system of classifications the house is considered a female world while the outside world belongs to the male space.

Due to the fact that the ancient Slavic paganism is closely associated with a wide worship of mother cult, the image of a woman is not only connected with the image of housewives and craftswomen, but with that of a mother who brings up children and takes care of them: Доброй жене домоседство не мука. Жена, что лебедь-птица, вывела детей вереницу.

Thus, the analysis of the Russian proverbs made it possible to identify the positive and negative assessment of the following subgroups of proverbs: foundations of a patriarchal society; religious and national ceremonies; traditions and customs of the people; cult of motherhood; the nature of mentality.

References:

1. Prohorov, Ju. E. Russkie poslovicy, pogovorki i krylatye vyrazhenija. Lingvostranovedcheskij slovar'. / Ju. E. Prohorov, V. P. Felicina. – M.: Russkij jazyk. – 1979. – 240s.

2. Russkie poslovicy i pogovorki / sost. A.I. Sobolev. – M.: Sov. Rossija, 1983. – 304 s.

3. Snegirev, I. M. Russkie v svoih poslovicah. Slovar' russkih poslovic i pogovorok. – N. Novgorod: Tri bogatyrja. Brat'ja slavjane, 1997. – 624s.