The Study Of Folk Adage

Folk Adage, written by Zheng Housheng, a scholar in Ming Dynasty, is alexicographical work collecting a great number of folk words which vividly recreatesthe bright cultural life of the laboring people of ancient China.This paper is made upof five parts, that are introduced by the sequence of the writing background of FolkAdage, investigated subjects and compiling features of Folk Adage, Folk Adage in theviewing angle of folk linguistics, value and points worthy of consideration in FolkAdage and comparison with Textual Research on Mistakes in Proverbs.Chapter One introduces the writing background of Folk Adage, the author, the bookand the existing editions of Folk Adage; Chapter Two mainly presents the investigatedsubjects and compiling features of Folk Adage. The investigated subjects mainly referto the copious custom vocabulary and the compiling features are mainly reflected inthe expression technique of notes accumulations, the word-catching principle aimingat textual research, the word denoting method of supporting by words of the massesand the objective interpretation of unique knowledge.The highlight of this paper, Chapter Three, mainly analyzes the Folk Adage inthe viewpoint of folk linguistics and gives an explanation from three aspects: origintracing of folk vocabulary in the Folk Adage, the classification of folk vocabulary inthe Folk Adage, and features of folk vocabulary in the Folk Adage. The origin tracingof folk vocabulary in the Folk Adage includes the analysis methods of origin of folkvocabulary and the generation mode of folk vocabulary in the Folk Adage. It takesemphasis on the five generation methods of folk vocabulary in the Folk Adage: origintracing of folk vocabulary concerning people allusions class, origin tracing of folkvocabulary concerning Chinese classics, origin tracing of folk vocabulary concerningproduction and life, origin tracing of folk vocabulary concerning astronomy andcalendric system and origin tracing of folk vocabulary concerning folk customs andbeliefs. The folk vocabulary in the Folk Adage can be classified as vocabularyreflecting production, vocabulary reflecting daily life, vocabulary reflecting folkperformance, vocabulary reflecting system of propriety and ceremony and vocabularyreflecting interpersonal relation. The features of folk vocabulary in the Folk Adageinclude regional characteristics figurativeness and dynamic characteristics. And thedynamic characteristics of folk vocabulary include the disappearance, transmissionand development of folk vocabulary. The development of the word meaning in folkvocabulary includes meaning widening, meaning narrowing and meaning transfer.Chapter Four in this paper focuses on the value and points worthy ofconsideration in Folk Adage. Its values are reflected in its function of historicalmaterials, with embryonic form of dictionary and encyclopedic language materials. Itsinsufficiencies are lack of documented evidence and fuzzy definition. Chapter Five makes horizontal and vertical comparison of the Folk Adage withSayings and Textual Research on Mistakes in Proverbs in terms of authors, writings,contents and the quantity of caught words, structure arrangements and characters andthereby shows the unique cultural values of the Folk Adage.