1

TELUGU PROVERBS IN THE INTERACTION BETWEEN

PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN:
A SOCIOLINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF THEIR CHOICE AND USAGE*

Chilukuri Bhuvaneswar, CIEFL, Hyderabad

ABSTRACT

Proverbs are not only used between elders but also between elders and children as in the
case of parents and their children. In this article, an attempt is made to present some of the
most frequently used proverbs between parents and their children in Telugu and analyse
them in terms of their functional choice and usage.

Fifty proverbs are taken from two domains, namely, the family and the outside family
domains and are analysed by using the Sociolinguistic Analysis Model (SAM) proposed in
Bhuvaneswar (1997). In the analysis, the influence of time setting, functions of proverbs
used and the types of proverb according to time-setting and place-setting are considered.

The findings show that most of the proverbs used are on the topics of education, work and
character. The proverbs serve different functions such as the expressive, the referential, the
directive and the poetic. They also show that no vulgar language is used in the proverbs of
middle class families.

1. INTRODUCTION

TELUGU SOCIETY

Telugu people live in Andhra Pradesh, a southern state of India, and have both nuclear and
joint family systems with an increasing preference towards nuclear families. In the
traditional middle class households, housewives are not generally employed and their main
job is to take care of the family and children. In the case of lower middle class families,
both the husband and the wife work by doing manual labour - even the grown up children
do petty jobs such as working as tea boys, shoeshiners, etc. In spite of the increase in
nuclear families and employed housewives, especially, in the urban areas, where the period
of time spent by the parents with their children is reduced, proverbs are still used and are
very much a part of the Telugu culture and tradition.

*This paper was submitted as a Term Paper in Sociolinguistics for the Ph.D. Coursework at Ciefl in 1997 and it was also
accepted at the Second International Conference on South Asian Languages, Punjabi University of Patiala, Patiala in 1999.

Proverbs are used in all walks of life by youngsters as well as old people. Nonetheless, there
are some people who may use proverbs rarely or less frequently or less in number in a given
period of time. On the other hand, there are some people who use proverbs regularly, more
frequently and more in number in a given period of time of the same duration. Personality,
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cultural upbringing and the milieu of the ‘external society’ determine to a large extent the
use of proverbs.

In a family, if the parents have a good repertoire of proverbs, there are greater chances of
using (their) proverbs with their children; if not, the chances are relatively small. There
might be a father or a mother who may not use any proverbs at all either because of
ignorance of proverbs or because of lack of tradition. However, in the large majority of
rural as well as urban households proverbs are used in varying degrees of frequency.

The type of proverbs used by parents is influenced by their educational, sociolectal,

religious and occupational backgrounds as well as the particular class of interlocutors on
particular kinds of occasions to discuss particular types of topics.

In this paper, an attempt is made to analyze a few proverbs collected from housewives from
an educated, middle class background with a good degree of cultural exposure.

B. PROVERBS : THEIR DESCRIPTION AND DEFINITION

A number of scholars have written about proverbs and offered their descriptions, which are
either semantic or structural. Abrahams (1972:119) describes proverbs as “short and witty
traditional expressions that arise as part of every day discourse as well as in the more highly
structured situations of education and judicial proceedings”. Proverbs need not be always
witty or humorous but the element of the collective wisdom of the society will be embedded
in the expression. Another traditional description of a proverb is “a short pithy saying in
general use, adage, saw” (O.E.D. 1963:985) which does not include the “witty” part in the
description. Another more popular definition of a proverb is the “wit of one and the wisdom
of many” (Wilson 1975) which emphasizes the collective wisdom of the society in which it
is produced.

All the above mentioned descriptions and definitions as well as many other similar accounts
of proverbs are only based on a general understanding of proverbs and are not precise. Short
and witty traditional expressions may be, without being proverbs, wise or humorous
sayings. In a similar way, a short and pithy saying in general use; the wit of one and the
wisdom of many; and other similar descriptions are only semantic and not comprehensive.

Dundes (1979:115) attempts a structural definition for a proverb as “ A traditional

propositional statement consisting of at least one topic and a comment”. Even this definition
does not reflect the most important feature of a proverb, namely, its use in discourse. As
such it is only a structural definition and not a functional one. Furthermore, a traditional
statement which is not a proverb can contain a topic and a statement – what is a traditional
statement and what is not is not clear.

Bhuvaneswar (1997:34) takes into consideration all the three aspects of 1. the collective
wisdom of the society; 2. the structural elements; and 3. the functional characteristics of
proverb. In this definition, 1 and 2 are fused into the term “SPECIAL UTTERANCE” and
the functional characteristic is integrated by linking it with a “NORMAL UTTERANCE”.
It is given in (No 1.) as follows:
(1) A proverb can be defined as
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a special utterance used as a valid comment on a normal utterance of or a non-

verbal action during a conversation ( or any other type of discourse) which is
construed as a topic.

This definition can be formulated in an equation as in

(2) P SU ~ NUC
[P proverb; SU special utterance; NUC a normal utterance in a specific conversation; ~
“used a valid comment”]
The concepts of an SU and an NU need to be expanded further to include the asadharana
karana (uncommon characteristic) of a proverb. A definition can become universally
applicable only when it does not suffer from ativyapti (over extension ), avyapti (under
extension) and asambhava (impossibility) of its properties and clinches the asadharana
karana – Glory be to the advaita vedantins who have contributed immensely in setting
norms for defining a concept! That is why almost all the definitions of a proverb have
become deficient, as they are not able to identify its asadharana karana which is the
prototypical praxis function. A special utterance is not only a frozen text in its canonical
form but also a text of prototypical praxis embodied as the propositional content of the
proverb. The prototypicalization of social praxis as a proverb is to be culturally confirmed;
otherwise any sentence which has the prototypical proposition potential can equally become
a proverb, which is not the case in real life. Once, an utterance is prototypicalized in a
frozen text and culturally confirmed, it becomes operational as a proverb and can be used as
a valid comment on an NU or a non-verbal action in the course of a conversation. The
confirmation of social praxis as a property of the proverb can be obtained by a cross-
cultural analysis of a corpus of proverbs on a specific subject, say, horse in cultural
anthropological linguistics. Such an analysis will be attempted in Bhuvaneswar (1999a).
Furthermore, the prototypical praxis property can be verified by a discourse analysis of
proverbial conversational exchanges in the systemic linguistic model. In such an analysis
we come to know that proverbs are used as speech acts. The same proverb can be used to
perform different speech acts in different contexts. It can as well perform multiple functions
in the same context also, depending on the perception of the context by the hearer. Such an
analysis will be attempted in Bhuvaneswar (1999b). In addition, the extension of
prototypical praxis property to similar categorial situations with a more specific emphasis
can be verified in adaptation of proverbs in titles of journalese as in Bhuvaneswar (1999c).
Finally, the basis for such prototypicalization of social praxis can be established only by a
recourse to cognitive linguistics. Such an analysis will be attempted in the Karmik
Linguistic Theory to be formulated later (q.v. Bhuvaneswar 2002).

An NU is any utterance that functions as a base to trigger the proverb in the context of the
conversation. In other words, it functions as the proverbial base without which a proverb
cannot be triggered – this is not applicable in the case of citation of proverbs. Sometimes, a
non - verbal action can do the function of a proverb.

Based on these observations, the definition of a proverb given in (1) can be rephrased as

A culturally confirmed, frozen text of a prototypical practice used as an

illocution over its categorial action in a given setting for a projected view of life.

This definition of a proverb will be taken as the standard in determining whether an

utterance is a proverb or not. Those utterances which do not satisfy (1) are not considered
proverbs for the purpose of analysis in this paper. Such utterances may be mere advice,
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scolding or comment without the proverbial import. For example, “Don’t do things in a
shabby way” cannot be considered a proverb because 1. It fails to be an SU even though it
expresses the wisdom of the society (Bhuvaneswar 1997:28-34) and 2. It is only an NU
used as a continuation of conversation in the overall discourse but not a valid comment on
another NU in the conversation, which might be or might not be construed as its topic.

The terms SU, NU and P will be further explained in The Sociolinguistic Model for
Analysis of Proverbs (SAM). Before I do that, let me also explain two other concepts
domains and functions of proverbs.

DOMAINS

Fishman (1979:15) in his analysis of the relationship between micro- and macro-
sociolinguistics discusses the concept of domain under three headings:

1.domains of language behavior;

2. domains and role - relations; and
3. domains and locales.

The construct validity of domains is also explored. According to Schmidt - Rohr (1932),
quoted by Fishman, there are nine types of domains depending on the contact settings and
socio – cultural change processes;
1. the family; 2. the playground and street;
3. The school (sub-divided in to language of instruction, subject of instruction, and
language of recess and entertainment);
4. the church; 5. literature; 6. the press; 7. the military;
8.the courts; 9. the governmental administration.
These domains were either expanded or contracted by other investigators.

Fishman (1979:19) defines domains regardless of their number “In terms of institutional
contexts or socio-ecological co-occurrences. They attempt to designate the major clusters of
interaction situation that occur in particular multilingual settings”. The establishment of
domains helps us to understand the choice of language used and the probable topic of
conversation in the individual behaviour of the interlocutor at the level of face–to–face
verbal encounters. In order to understand and define language behaviour, we must have an
insight into the sociocultural dynamics of the particular speech community. Barker (1947,
1952) formulated domains at the level of socio–psychological analysis: intimate, informal,
formal and inter-group and then identifies them with the societal institutional level
mentioned above. Greenfield (1968) identifies only five domains (family, friendship,
religion, education, employment). In all these classifications, family is mentioned and
recognized as an important domain, which is significant.

For the purpose of our analysis, we look at family as the most important domain and
collapse all other domains into a single domain, which includes all or a part of domain(s). I
call this Outside Family Domain.

C. 1. FAMILY DOMAIN

Family domain can be considered the domain in which the parents and children interact
with each other within the kinship circle of father, mother, brothers, sisters and very close
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relatives staying together in the same kinship circle. The setting of the family domain is
generally the home in which they stay together. Sometimes, when the family moves out to
a different place, attends a meeting or a ceremony, organizes a picnic, etc. without the
addition of other members into the circle, the family domain can be considered to be still
maintained but with the setting changed.

C. 2. OUTSIDE FAMILY DOMAIN

Outside family domain is the domain in which there is an intrusion of non–family members
either in the setting of home or outside. This is the domain in which the parents together
with their children participate in different spheres of activity along with other members of
the community. These include birthday parties, functions in school and other social
activities where the family is in face–to–face level interaction.

FUNCTIONS OF PROVERBS

Apart from functions at a societal level (Saville – Troike 1982 : 15) such as :
1. unifying members of a single speech community;
2. excluding outsiders from inter-group communications;
3. social identification and social stratification by the use of linguistic
indicators; and
4. social categories and divisions,
language serves other functions of communication which are directly related to the
participants’ purposes and needs (Hymes 1972) at the individual and group level. These
categories include:

1. expressive ; 2. directive
[Conveying feelings and emotions] [requesting or demanding]

3. referential ; 4. poetic
[true or false propositional content] [aesthetic]

5. phatic ; 6. metalinguistic
[empathy and solidarity] [reference to language itself]

functions. Searle’s (1977) illocutionary acts (representatives, directives, commissives,

expressives, and declaratives) are similar to the classification of communicative functions of
Hymes. However, in ethnography of communication, the functional perspective has priority
in description (Saville – Troike 1982 : 16). While function may coincide with a single
grammatical sentence, it often does not, and a single sentence may serve several functions
simultaneously – in speech act theory, a speech act is almost always co – terminous with
sentences in analysis. Hymes (1972) considers the difference between the functional intent
of the speakers and the actual effect it has on the hearer, which he calls “functional
relativity”.

In order to achieve more explanatory power, both the function and form of discourse have
to be integrated in the analysis since they are situated in communicative settings and
patterns and since they have a function in society.
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As we know, proverbs are language; so, these functions are also performed by proverbs.
However, in their analysis, the metalinguistic functions of proverbs are not taken up since
they are not relevant to our situations (settings).

THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC ANALYSIS MODEL [SAM]

Bhuvaneswar (1977 : 10-13) suggests a new model for sociolingustic analysis of proverbs
based on the concept of message (Hymes 1972 : 26) which implies the sharing of the seven
components proposed by Hymes. Applying these components to a proverb, we get

1. A CODE or CODES in terms of which the proverb is intelligible. [i.e., in

Telugu in which language the proverb is communicated];

2. PARTICIPANTS minimally a speaker of the proverb (i.e., the parent of the

child) and the listener (i.e., the child of the parent) to whom the speaker says
the proverb;

3. An EVENT constituted by the transmission of the proverb; and

characterized by

4. A CHANNEL(S) [in this case speech];

5. A SETTING ( or CONTEXT) which is the place or locale where the proverb

is said;

6. A DEFINITE FORM or SHAPE to the message which is in the form of the

proverb either in prose or poetry; and

7. A TOPIC and COMMENT which means that the proverb says (comments)
something about a topic ( the topic of the proverb)

The topic of the proverb and the topic of the conversation are different and so are the
comments of the proverb and the conversation. However, there is an indirect relationship
between these two levels.

No.2 and No.5 play a very crucial role in the formation and use of proverbs (Bhuvaneswar
1977 : 12 ).They are not relevant for our discussion in the case of the proverbs analysed
here because domains are already discussed earlier. No.2 will be further explained (as and
when the need arises) during the course of our proverb analysis.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

There are a number of books and research articles on Telugu Proverbs. Most of the books
are arranged in an alphabetical order and the research articles are analysed in terms of their
meaning, origin and use in general but no attempt – as far as we know – has been made to
study them from the perspective of their function or communicative components as outlined
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in the introduction earlier in this paper. We have also not come across any area study of
proverbs used by parents with their children.

In Yoruba, 14 proverbs used in child training are analysed with their meaning and usage by
Dundes and Arewa (1979:38-49). Apart from this, no other papers are available for review.

III. SOCIOLINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF

PARENT – CHILDREN PROVERBS

O. INTRODUCTION

In Section I, the concepts of domains and functions are explained with reference to
proverbs. In this section, the proverbs will be analysed under two main headings: 1. Family
Domain; 2. Outside Family Domain. The analysis will be carried out according to SAM as
outlined in Section I.

As there are a number of potential proverbs that can be used in the two domains mentioned,
a few of them will be listed as alternatives as and when the analysis needs them for further
illustration. Also, all the proverbs collected will not be discussed in detail owing to
constraints of time and limitation of space. Hence, after the analysis of the representative
samples, the remaining proverbs will only be mentioned.

1. PROVERBS IN THE FAMILY DOMAIN

The setting of the family domain is generally the home. Depending on the type of a house
the family lives, and the occupation of the parents as well as their social classification,
proverbs are used to fulfill the communicative needs required for that type of a setting.

There is also a need to understand more about the concept of setting and extend it further to
a new dimension of time.

A. SETTING

The place or locale where the proverb is said is called the setting (or context) of the proverb.
This is a geographical description of setting. However, there is another feature, the
dimension of time, which also plays an important role in the use of proverbs. The children in
a family have to follow their activities according to the dictates of time. They have to wake
up from bed at a particular time, go to school at a particular time, come back from school,
drink milk, play for some time, take their lunch, and supper, read for a while and go to bed
at regular slated times. This time dimension restricts and regulates their activities and in the
process of performing their duties in all these spheres of activity, there is active interaction
between parents and their children. This in turn leads to the use of proverbs (during the
process of discourse between them) which are generated by the time dimension. Therefore,
there is a need to coin a new term to indicate this factor. I would like to call this feature –
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oriented setting as Time – Setting and the former Place – Setting to distinguish between
the two. Bhuvaneswar (1997 : 24) divides the setting into Immediate Setting and Wider
Setting and also calls them Setting 1 and Setting 2 respectively. These two settings are
subsumed under one word ‘SETTING’ to denote the general concept of locale or place.
Therefore, Setting 1 and Setting 2 come under Place – Setting which is different from Time
– Setting. Setting 1 and 2 can be influenced by Time – Setting according to many factors
operating on the participants in the discourse.

Having divided setting into 1. Time and 2. Place settings, let me discuss the general spheres
of activity in which the children are engaged in the time – setting. Time – setting for
children can be broadly divided into the following components:

B. 1.Early Morning [during which a child wakes up, takes his bath, dresses up, takes his
breakfast and then goes to school]

2.School Time/Work Time [during which a school going child attends school and a
non - school going child spends his time in work, if has, as in the case of lower classes
of the society]

3.LunchTime is a part of School Time

4.Play Time [during which a child plays. It can be in the evening after school time or
any part of the day in which he plays, especially, during holidays]

5. Nighttime [during which he takes supper, reads for a while, plays with parents and
other members, and finally goes to bed]

Both Time and Place settings are inter-related and influence each other in the regulation of
discourse and hence the use of proverbs.

In the light of observations made on domain functions, settings and SAM, let me attempt
now an analysis of selected Telugu proverbs between parents and their children.

C. PROVERBS AT HOME (PLACE SETTING) IN

THE EARLY MORNING (TIME – SETTING)

(3). kumba karuila:ga: nidra po:tunna:u / po:ta:u.

Kumbhakarna like sleep going he / will go he
‘(He) sleeps like Kumbhakarna.’

The child has to wake up early in the morning. If he does not, the mother/father will try to
wake him up. In spite of their repeated efforts, if the child does not get up, an irritated
parent uses this proverb.

The background of the proverb is in Ramayana, the sacred and one of the most famous
epics of India. Kumbhakarna has the habit of sleeping for six months and staying awake for
the rest of the six months in a year. Once he goes to sleep, it is extremely difficult to wake
him up. This proverb is used when someone who does not wake up easily is referred to.
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The participants are the parents (or one of them) trying to wake up the child in the morning.
The child does not get up easily and needs a lot of persuasion, sometimes, scolding or even
beating up the child. An irritated parent uses this proverb to express his emotions.

It fulfills two functions at the same time. The emotive function of the proverb is to express
irritation while the directive function is to tell the child that it is not good to sleep like that.

The setting is an important feature in determining the use of this proverb. If the place is the
home, the child will have more freedom; otherwise, he will be under more pressure as delay
in waking up will delay the other activities. In a similar way, the time – setting demands
that the child should get up quickly because he has to go to school (or work) in time. If it is
a holiday, the pressure of time will be less and the use of the proverb may or may not arise
at all depending on other activities.

The topic and comments are easily explained as the situation is simple. The normal
utterance will be related to his not waking up at repeated requests and the special utterance
is 3 which becomes a proverb when used in the discourse since it is a valid comment on an
NU.

The code is Telugu; the event speech; and the definite form or shape is prose.

(4). amma pe e: na:lugu: peite: ga:ni budd i

ra:du.
mother putting four putting unless wisdom will not come
‘If the four that mother has to give has not given, wisdom will not come (dawn).’

This proverb is used when the child is stubborn and does not do the expected things (such as
bathing in time, washing the teeth early in the morning, taking the breakfast without fuss,
combing the hair and dressing up promptly; etc.)

The background of the proverb is in a story where a mother beats her child up when it
refuses to do what she says. ‘Four’ here refers to the ‘slaps’ given by the mother to
discipline the child. It is only after the beating, the child obeys her/his mother.

The proverb has a directive function, which demands the child to do the expected thing; if
not, it will face the consequences.

All the other components are easy to understand. Hence, no explanation is given. The same
strategy will be adopted in the description of other proverbs in order to save space and avoid
monotony.

Other proverbs such as

(5) a. ge:de mi:da a:na paalu.
she-buffalo on rain falling like
b. dunnappo:tu mi:da aram kurisinalu.
he-buffalo on rain falling like
‘Like rain falling on a she-buffalo/he buffalo.’
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(6). gui gu a:niki panlu to:mu tunna:u.

blind horse to teeth washing is
‘He is washing the teeth of a blind horse.’
are also used in C.

D. PROVERBS AT HOME IN THE SCHOOL/WORK TIME

There will be very few proverbs in this time as the child will not be with the parents except
for the lunchtime.

The need for proverbs such as

(7). peki pilla:iki pe:ka bettame: mandu.
naughty boy to fibre cane medicine
‘To a naughty boy a fibre cane (is) the medicine.’

(8). danam daa guam bae:t.

stick ten qualities begetteth
‘A stick begets ten qualities.’

(9). debbaki dejjam adultundi.

slap to devil leave will
‘To a slap, the devil will leave.’

arises when the child refuses to go to school or work. (7), (8) and (9) all express the
directive function and they are similar to other proverbs of the same category.

E. PROVERBS AT HOME AT NIGHTTIME

Nighttime is the only time during which both the parents and children will be free and
together for long. In some families, supper is taken together with children and in some
others it is not. Many proverbs that are related to eating are used in these settings. These
proverbs are also used while taking breakfast and lunch as well.

(10). aigite: ga:ni amma (a)jiana: peadu.

being asked unless a mother even will not give
(food).
‘Without being asked, even a mother will not give (food).’

The primary function of this proverb is directive even though it has a referential content.
This proverb is based on the belief that unless you ask for something you will not get it.
This is generally the case in life due to two reasons: 1. Unless told, nobody knows what a
person wants; 2. Very few people come to help others on their own initiative (out of ego
problems or for fear of interfering in other people’s matters). This is the true propositional
content of the proverb expressed as in [only by asking, you get]. Now, by quoting this
proverb, the parents are asking the child to request or tell others his problems when he has;
otherwise, nobody will help him, especially, when he wants food. Therefore, there is advice
in this proverb as well and thus it fulfills the condition of a directive function.

(11). tiniki timma ra:du paniki po:tura:du.

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food to Thimmaraju work to Pothuraju

‘For eating Thimmaraju, for working Pothuraju.’

Thimmaraju means monkey king and Pothuraju buffalo king. The first word is used to
denote a voracious eater while the second for a lazy worker. Any person who is ‘first’ for
eating and ‘last’ for working is referred to by this proverb. It is a pejorative statement
meant to rouse the ego of a person and make him work more.

This proverb serves many functions: it can be referential; it can be directive as well as
expressive; finally, it is also poetic.

The expressive and poetic functions are clearly visible. It expresses the emotional feelings
about the character of the child – so it serves the expressive function; the alliteration, the
balance, the internal rhyme, and the verbal repetition all add up to its poetic function. The
directive function is possible only at the time of asking the child to work when he refuses to
do so. In normal circumstances, in lively conversation, it serves the referential function.

(12). a:kali rut(i) erugadu nidra suka m(u) erugadu.

hunger taste knows not sleep comfort knows not
‘Hunger knows no taste ; sleep knows no comfort.’
(13) bo:dana:niki mundu sna:niki enaka.
food to before bathing to after
‘Before for food, after for bathing (water)’.
(14) kakka tine: ga:relu te:du.
vomitting eating garelu bitter
‘If eaten (up to the point of vomitting) too much, garelu (will become) bitter.’
[ga:relu are prepared by frying black gram paste in thick rings in oil.
They are a popular delicacy in the Telugu society.]

are some other proverbs used in this connection which express referential, directive and
poetic functions. These proverbs can be used even in the daytime if the occasion is ‘eating
– connected’.

(15) igne:sarui mi:da bakta: unra: a mi:da

bakta: ?
Vighnesvara on devotion undrallu on devotion ?
‘Devotion to Vighnewsara, (or) devotion to undrallu?’

In every Hindu household, Ganesh Puja (Vinayaka Chavathi) is performed every year. On
this occasion, a delicacy undrallu is prepared as a special food item. The children sit for
puja (prayers and worship) but their mind will be set on the sweet delicacy undrallu. That
means that they are more interested in the undrallu than in the puja and hence they are
doing the puja for the sake of undrallu. It has both referential and poetic functions. The
verbal repetition, balance and the content of the proverb convey the poetic function.
Apart from the proverbs related to eating – settings, another major setting is studying time.
This time – setting is in the early nighttime, early morning time and sometimes afternoon
(during holidays). A large number of proverbs are analysed below:

(16) abja:sam ku:su idja

practice small knowledge /education
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‘Practice makes education is easy.’

This proverb can be used as a directive trying to advise the child to work hard so that he
will learn very well or it can be used referentially to affirm the fact that practice makes
prefect. If the child after a few mistakes practices again and again and gets the point in a
lesson, etc., then the proverb is used referentially; on the other hand, if the child does not
work hard and gets disappointed while learning, this proverb is used as an encouragement to
make him read more.

The proverb can be used in either of the two domains and in any setting also. This proverb
is not only related to learning but also in acquiring any skill in general.

(17) panita putraha parama unaha.

scholar son utter stupid
‘The son of a scholar, an utter stupid.’

This proverb serves an expressive function when it is used to refer to the child who is
foolish (in a reading setting) but serves a referential function when used in general to talk
about children of a scholar who have not come up in life. This particular proverb is not
used in outside family domain as it is insulting to the user. This is a Sanskrit proverb
borrowed into Telugu.

(18) mokk(a) aji aga n(i)de: ma:naji

agutunda: ?
plant being bending if not tree being bending will it ?
‘If not bent as a sapling, will it bend as a tree?’

This proverb is participant specific. It is generally used only for children who do not
change their bad habits or who do not get good habits while in school, home, etc.

This has a referential as well as a directive function. It indicates to the child that he has to
cultivate good habits at the very young age itself or else he will never be able to change
those habits. In the process of doing so, it warns/demands that the child make conscious
effort to overcome the bad habits. The poetic function is achieved by alliteration and
balancing the two units – mokkai vangande with manayi vanguthunda.

Proverbs such as

(19)tada(a) e:ste: unna mati po:jindi.

reading putting existing mind is lost
‘Having made one to read, he lost his existing mind.’
(20) tadaaka mundara ka:karaka:ji tadiin
tarata ki:karaka:ja.
reading before ridge gourd reading after radge gourd
(an echo word)
‘Before reading kaakarakaayi (ridge gourd); after reading kiikarakaayi.’
(21) telise: da:ka: brahma vidja ; telisa:ka ku:su
idja.
knowing till Brahma knowledge knowing after small knowledge
 13

‘(It is) Brahma Vidya (divine knowledge) till knowing; small knowledge
after knowing.’
(22) ko:i idjalu: ku:i korake:.
ten million skills food for only
‘All the ten million skills (are) for food only.’
(23) taduukunna:i kane: ta:kalo:u
me:lu.
educated man than washerman better
‘A washerman is better than an educated man.’

are some important proverbs with a referential and expressive function.

(24) a:dilo:ne: hamsa pa:du.

beginning in swan foot
‘In the beginning itself the hamsa padu (the insertion mark used in writing).’
This insertion mark is like this : λ or Λ . It is used to insert omitted
information in between words .
(25) ra:ma:jaamanta: ini ra:muiki si:ta e:maindannalu.
Ramayanam all listening Rama to Sitha what is she said like
‘After listening to the whole Ramayanam,(it is ) like asking what Sitha is to
Rama.’
(26) manta:u manta: ane: madirekki
utto:sa:a
good man good man saying attic climbing urinated that
‘(I understand) That if said good man, good man, he climbed the attic and
urinated.’
(27) a:inde: a:a pa:inde: pa:a
which is played (is) play which is sung (is) song
‘Which is played is the play, which is sung is the song.’

are oft quoted proverbs during the teaching of children which serve the expressive function
in the family domain. These proverbs are not used by parents in outside family domain for
fear of insulting their children in public.

F. PROVERBS AT PLAY TIME

While the children play with their parents, sometimes they injure themselves, sometimes
they overplay causing irritation, sometimes they talk big, etc. Some of the proverbs are
related to such settings and their topics and comments reflect these facts.

(28) ko:ti punu brahma ra:kasi

te:sinalu.
monkey bruise super demon making like
‘Monkey making a bruise into a Brahmarakshasi.’

The background of the proverb is in the observation of monkey behaviour. It is believed in

the Telugu folklore that when a monkey gets injured, all other monkeys come to console
him and in the process gently scratch the wound to see how it is. Eventually, the wound
 14

gets abraded more and more and so becomes an enlarged and reddish sore which is called a
Brahmarakshasi (literally, a huge demon). [Rao 1993 : 52]

Whenever children get injured and try to scratch the wound, the mother shouts at the child
quoting this proverb. It expresses her anger as well as advice to the boy by the addition of
/ tejjaku / instead of / te:sinalu / to stop him from scratching the wound.

(29) ta:(nu) tea ko:ti

anamanta: teritinalu.
itself spoiled monkey garden all spoiling like
‘Like a monkey spoiled itself (i.e., a spoiled monkey) spoiling the garden.’

When children play in the house, they will turn the house upside down in their excitement –
the chairs will be disorganized, the floor will be dirtied, the books will be torn out, and
some materials will be broken. When such a setting is created, this proverb is used. It is
primarily expressive in its function. It can also be used in the outside family domain, say, in
a park, a marriage ceremony, etc.

Some other proverbs such as:

(30) ku:se: ga:idotti me:se: gaidani

teritindia
braying donkey coming grazing donkey spoiled that
‘ (I understand) That a braying donkey came and spoiled a grazing donkey.’

(31) uttara kumara pragalu

Uththara Kumara boasting
‘Uththara Kumara’s vows (boasting).’
[Uttara Kumara is a character in Mahabharata who boasts with the palace women of Virata
that he would fight the enemies if had a chariot and when he gets one runs away from the
battlefield. Bruhannala (Arjuna), who happens to be his charioteer, consoles him and takes
him back to the field in the same chariot and gets back the cowherds.]
and (32) a:a le:ka maddela o:(u) an(i)na (a)(u)lu.
to play unable drum is bad saying like
‘(It is)Like saying, unable to play, the drum is spoiled.’

are also used during play time either to mock at a bad player or to indict a boy’s behaviour.

G. PROVERBS AT WORK

There are a number of proverbs related to work, which are very often used with children by
parents. Most of them are directives such as

(33) a:lasjam amrutam iam.

delay nectar poison
‘Delay turns nectar into poison.’
which exhorts the boy to do things at the right time,
 15

(34) parigetti pa:lu ta:ge: kane: nuntuni ni:u

ta:gaam me:lu.
running milk drinking than standing water drinking better
‘Than running and drinking milk, standing and drinking water is better.’

which advises the boy to be content and patient,

(35) tu:si ramm(u) (ani) ane: ka:lt[(i)

(a)]otta:a.
seeing come that saying burning came that
‘ (I understand) That, if asked to see and come, (he) burnt and returned.’

which has a reference to Lord Hanuman who went to Sri Lanka to find out where Sitha was
and then burnt Sri Lanka while returning to Rameswaram is addressed to naughty boys to
be patient.

(36) pe:nuki pettanam(u) iste: talanta: teg(a)

gorigindi.
lice to supervision giving head all extensively it shaved
‘If the lice was given supervision, (it) shaved the head extensively.’

is primarily expressive but sometimes prohibitive in the sense of advising the boy not to
indulge in such activities.

(37) panile:ni magala:u pil tala goriga:a.

jobless barber cat head shaved that
‘ (I understand) That an idle (jobless) barber shaved a cat.’
[ Here is an interesting phonological process of syllabic deletion if the word is pilli. The
vowel / i / is deleted first and later there is further weakening of the geminated /l/.
Subsequently there is sandhi and both the word pili and tala are joined together to give
piltala…. There is also another interpretation for this proverb. It is suggested that pilli is not
the word used in the proverb. It is pilichi which has undergone syllabic deletion at the end.
Later on even the last vowel /i/ is also ellipted to give the present form of pil. This
explanation seems to be more plausible since in the olden days and even in the recent past
there was a social practice of barbers calling people and doing hair cutting when they did
not have any work to do.]

is primarily expressive.

(38) pullajja e: a:ram

Pullayya Vemavaram
‘Pullayya’s (going and coming back from) Vemavaram (without doing any
work).’
[It refers to Pullayya who overheard his father’s discussion with his mother the previous
night about sending him to a nearby village Vemavaram (for doing some work) and then he
simply went to the village early in the morning and came back (without doing that work)
before his parents woke up. When asked by the father to go there he said that he had already
gone and returned.]
are some other proverbs which are often used to admonish the foolishness of the children.
 16

(39) manduki pampiste: ma:sika:nik(i) (a)osta:u.

medicine to sent if death ceremony to will come
‘If sent for medicine, he will come back for the death ceremony.’
expresses the referential as well as the expressive function of the proverb.

PROVERBS ON CHARACTER AND HEALTH

There are also a number of proverbs reflecting on the character of the boy / daughter which
are primarily expressive in their function; sometimes, they are referential also.

A few examples are given below:

(40) ba:la a:kku bramha a:kku.

child words Brahma words
‘Child’s words (are) Brahma’s words.’
[Brahma is pronounced bramha by a metathesis of ‘hm’ into ‘mh’. It is a word which has
two different variations: Brahman and Brahma. Brahma is the first in the trinity of the
pantheon of Sanathana Dharma which is known to westerners as Hinduism. Eswara
(literally, the independent controller of creation) when functions as the materializer of the
unmanifest creation into the manifest creation of name (namam) and form (rupam) is called
Brahma. Hence, his words are the final words as far as the process of creation goes. It is
believed in the Sanathana Dharma that children are very pure and so what they say reflects
Brahma’s thinking itself. Brahman on the other hand is the ultimate and absolute
phenomenon of God whose qualities are Sath (Existence), Chith (Consciousness), and
Ananda (Bliss). He is the adhishtanam (the substratum) of everything. His power or energy
is called Maya. Maya by Brahman’s very presence, just like iron filings by the very
presence of a magnet, gets activated and projects the universe of name and form of this
universe. Eswara is the reflection of Sath-Cith-Ananda in Maya and functions as the God. It
is He who further performs the function of creation as Brahma (creator), Vishnu (sustainer),
and Rudra (Siva).]

(41) pia kontem ku:ta ganam.

bird small cooing great
‘Small bird, great cooing’

(42) ati vinajam du:rta lakaam.

extreme respect scoundrel quality
‘Extreme respect, scoundrel quality.’

(43) puu pua ga:ne: parimaistundi.

flower being born fragrance will emanate
‘As soon as a flower is born, so it emanates fragrance.’

(44) a:ro:gjame: maha: ba:gjam.

health only great fortune
‘Health is great wealth.’
 17

(45) lakaam paramauadam.

fasting great medicine
‘Fasting is the great medicine.’

(46) ulli te:sina me:lu talli ku:a:

tejjadu.
onion doing good mother even does not
‘The good (that) onion does, even a mother doesn’t.’

2. PROVERBS IN THE OUTSIDE FAMILY DOMAIN

When the family goes out, the parents need to advise, warn or inform their children
according to the setting. A few proverbs are listed below which are used in the outside
family domain.

(47) nida:name: prada:nam(u).

steadiness primary
‘Steadiness is essential (important).’

(48) jaka pranal(u) aakku/ejjaku.

Yaksha questions ask not
‘Don’t ask Yaksha’s questions.’

(49) stri:ki sigge: siga:ram.

woman to shyness only decoration
‘Shyness is the only decoration to a woman.’

(50) sandaka:a saa:l poddunne: dia:l.

night in boasting morning in indeed bankruptcy
‘Boasting in the night, bankruptcy in the morning.’

(47) is used while crossing roads, entering & alighting from buses and trains, etc.;
(48) to admonish boys and girls who go on asking very curious questions which can’t be
easily answered – Yaksha is the owner of a lake who asks very complicated spiritual
questions which Dharmaraja answers to save his brothers; and
(49) to advise daughters who behave brazenly.
(50) is a proverb used in the agricultural farms. The previous night the farmer’s son boasts
that he would do this and that but fails in the farm the next day.
(47) and (48) are directive; (49) is referential and (50) expressive. The proverbs in Outside
the Family Domain are not as frequent as those in the Family Domain. The reason is the
formality of the outside family domain inhibits the advising, warning, etc., of the children
for fear of embarrassment. All these proverbs are used only in light humour.
 18

V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

(A) SUMMARY

In the introduction, a brief description of the family system in Telugu society is given and a
new definition for PROVERB had been discussed on the model of communicative event
analysis of Dell Hymes. The technical terms ‘domains’ and ‘functions of proverbs’ are
explained along with a very brief account of SAM. In the section III, fifty proverbs are
taken and analysed in terms of their functions and usage with an underlying implication of
their choice and domains.

(B) CONCLUSION

The sociolinguistic analysis of Telugu Proverbs between parents and their children indicates
that:
1. most of the proverbs are on their upbringing, which emphasises more on
education, and the little work they do in the house.
2. The main functions are expressive and directive.
3. The formation and use of proverbs are also determined by time – setting,
which is an important point.
4. Proverbs with the metalinguistic function (and phatic function also) are very
few. In this collection, not a single proverb is obtained.
5. The proverbs used reflect the culture and tradition of the Telugu people and
give us some insight into the formation of proverbs from mythological and
social events.
6. The range of proverbs is wide and covers many aspects of social life of the
children. However, there are many more proverbs on grown up children.
7. As the proverbs collected do not have any vulgar words, it indicates that in
middle class families children are not exposed to vulgar words and the
parents also do not use vulgar words.

This analysis did not take into consideration the perlocutionary factor of proverbs owing to
the constraints of time and lack of any research material on how children perceive the
proverbs and what effect do they have on them.

This analysis provides a springboard for a further examination of the behaviour of proverbs
in domains. Now that we have 50 proverbs identified as used in the family domain, we can
extend the analysis of these proverbs into other domains. Then, we can see whether they are
limited only to the family domain or they are equally usable across different domains. If so,
we gain a further insight into the behaviour of proverbs across domains, leading to a general
observation.

An important finding of this analysis is that proverbs are used to comment on social praxis
as speech acts. Each proverb that is listed is found to have been used in a social context on a
social practice that recurs in many households in the family domain. However, an actual
conversational exchange analysis is further needed to ratify this observation, since the
proverbs listed here are studied by extraction from the observed contexts and not through
the conversational exchanges.
 19

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