Figurative structure of the Avar proverbs

Abstract

The article considers the artistic means used in the Avar language for the enhancing of the expressiveness of proverbs: brevity, rhythm, alliteration, rhyme, paired use of words, parallelism. Brevity is characterized as the most important stylistic law of the proverb which gives it nativeness and distinguishes it from the maxim which is a literary version of the proverb. Imagery is also inherent in the Avar paremia, although it is not obligatory. Imaginative transfer can be both metonymic and metaphorical. The rhyme in the paremia of the Avar language is represented by the repetition of similar combinations of sounds in the semantic centers of proverbs and sayings. The end rhymes are not characteristic for the Avar language as well as for the structural organization of paremias. Absence of the end rhyme is compensated by wide use of alliteration (the initial rhyme) repetition of the same consonant sounds in the anlaut which enhances the expressiveness of the paremias. Keywords–Avar language, proverb, structural bases, brevity, figurativeness, rhythm, rhyme, parallelism