The Influence of Pragmatic Norms on the English Proverbs

In human languages proverbs constitute a very important aspect of language use. Thus,they have been a subject of varying attention from different specialists: linguists andlanguage users in general. Shakespeare is described as the most adroit user of proverbs inliterature; therefore, his plays have been the subject of numerous scientific investigations,whereby from a linguistic point of view the focus has primarily been aimed at vocabulary andgrammar. On the one hand, attention has been paid regularly to lexical items becauseShakespeare is supposed to have been a great innovator of words due to his coinage of newlexemes and his usage of several unknown expressions. Linguistic studies have also beenconcerned with grammatical constructions which are typical of the English at Shakespeare’stime. Many writers employ proverbs in their works but Shakespeare is different in the way heemploys proverbs which are used to serve different functions and to achieve differentillocutionary acts. These proverbs are embedded in the flow of conversations and they mayflout one or more than one of Grice‘s maxims. The present study aims at analyzing proverbs and explaining how far Grice’s cooperativeprinciples (maxims) are abided by in Shakespeare’s proverbs as specified in the data.Proverbs are sometimes said to mean something else in addition to what is explicitly stated.Words may mean something beyond those intended by the speaker or the writer. These extrameanings might achieve or refer to different illocutionary acts. The study explores whether ornot these illocutionary acts share certain structural features. In order to achieve the aims of the research, the following hypotheses have beenproposed: Grice’s cooperative principle is frequently flouted in Shakespeare’s proverbs. Themaxim of Quality seems to be flouted more than the other maxims. This maxim is mainlyflouted by the use of metaphor. Shakespeare’s proverbs are also characterized by the use ofthe speech