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FIGURES OF SPEECH IN PROVERBS I (PHONOLOGY):

EVIDENCE FOR KA:RMIK LINGUISTIC THEORY
Chilukuri Bhuvaneswar, University of Sebha, Sebha

ABSTRACT
In The Phonology of English and Telugu Proverbs Series, in the first
paper (Bhuvaneswar 1998), it has been shown that the phonemic
systems, phonotatics, and phonetic realization of English and Telugu
phonemes in proverbs as language and in proverbs as a genre of
language provide empirical evidence for Ka:rmik Linguistic Theory.

In this second paper in the series under Figures of Speech in Proverbs

I, the feature of phonological figures of speech in proverbs will be
taken up and examined with representative samples from a new
perspective of dispositionality as the basis for creation of the principle
of figures of speech via the dispositional trait of aesthetic appeal.

It is found out that the figures of speech used in ordinary language are
also used in proverbs as a genre of language. In addition, it is also
found out that they are used in accordance with the application of the
dispositional principle of aesthetic appeal further angumented by its
creative extension on the basis of superimposition. As such, it
provides empirical evidence for Ka:rmik Linguistic Theory which
considers proverbs as Ka:rmik (dispositional) prototype – categorical
representational action of action. Finally, it will be shown that these
phonological figures of speech in proverbs can only be secondary
characteristics as they are not universally present in them across
languages.

I. INTRODUCTION
Phonological figures of speech are extensively discussed in proverb
literature. From a formal linguistic perspective, their structure has
been analyzed and various permutations and combinations that can
occur within the lexical and sentential constraints are explored. From
a functional perspective also, they are examined and found to be
useful mnemonic, entertainment, melodic, meaning-bearing and
emphasis/prominence creating devices. However, they have not been
motivated from a dispositional perspective. Such an approach will
provide a socio-cognitive linguistic and ka:rmik linguistic basis for
figures of speech in terms of their formation and application. What is
more, they will instantiate a very commonly observed phenomenon of
figures of speech, especially, in literature, as a product of certain
principles and traits operating in human behaviour across the
languages and cultures.
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In this paper, such a novel approach has been adopted to know more
about how proverbs are structured at the phonological level.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

In Mieder (1982, 1990, 1993, 2001), there are numerous references to
such phonological figures of speech such as alliteration, assonance,
dissonance, onomatopoeia, rhythm and rhyme in addition to intonation
and meter. Most of these articles discuss figures of speech as part of a
larger theme in which they occur.

Here, what we are concerned with is how figures of speech operate in

language and proverbs as forming a node in the internal structural
network of language in the construction of actional (lingual actional)
reality. It appears that such a holistic explanation of figures of speech
is not yet reported in the critical proverb literature. It is mainly due to
the absence of a holistic linguistic theory that can absorb figures of
speech into its fold from that perspective.

In this paper, figures of speech in general and phonological figures of

speech in particular are examined from such a novel perspective to
show that they are a product of disposition which is the source of
creating not only the action but its manner also.

III. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF PHONOLOGICAL

FIGURES OF SPEECH IN PROVERBS
Figures of speech when looked at the Level Below will give us a formal
characterization of them; at the Middle Level, a functional
characterization; and at the Level Above, a dispositional
characterization (i.e., as products of disposition); and at the Level
Whole (i.e., holistic level), a ka:rmik characterization (i.e., as products
of variable experiential principle of cause-effect reality produced by
different dispositions).

In order to motivate figures of speech at a formal level, we have to

motivate them from their function upwards to human disposition and
finally to karma (i.e., the principle of action derived from disposition).
Again, a characterization of figures of speech at the formal, or
functional or cognitive levels is only fragmentary and therefore not
comprehensive. Only ka:rmik characterization can be comprehensive
since it looks at the whole which is greater than the sum of its parts in
terms of the parts as well as beyond the whole (see Bhuvaneswar
(2008: 71). In other words, it looks at language as a product of human
beings with a function, meaning, pattern, and structure formed out of
their svabha:vam (disposition or personality) to be used as a resource
for the construction of their ka:rmik reality. In order to do such a
ka:rmik characterization of figures of speech in proverbs, we need to
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know about creativity, disposition, the power of gunas (qualitative

components of svabha:vam (disposition)), aesthetic appeal or beauty,
a principle and productive extension, cultural, contextual and
experiential realities. Let us discuss them one by one in order to
understand what figures of speech are in this new theory, and how
they are formed and used.

(a) The Principle of Creativity

All human beings are endowed with the power of creativity. Creativity
implies awareness, awareness of something new which may be an
innovation of a new principle, or a modification and/or an imitation of
an existing principle which brings about newness. In the case of
routine processes which are already known and standardized,
creativity is functional only in their reproduction in a type-token
relation. Generally imitative practices do not usher in newness but
when you imitate an idea or an action in a different environment, it
brings about freshness and newness.

This power of creativity is manifested through cognition. In Santiago

Theory (Systemic Theory), consciousness as self awareness and
cognition as the process of life are considered ‘emergent properties’ of
neural activity in humans, whereas in the Ka:rmik Linguistic Theory,
the power of Consciousness as the Principle of Static Awareness,
Cognition as the Principle of (Dynamic) Awareness in Action and
Creativity as the Principle of New Awareness are the exclusive
prerogatives of the ji:va (the Living Being) which possesses the body,
mind, and disposition as its different forms of energy. To explain
further, Consciousness is not regarded as the function of neural
activity in humans but the other way round: neural activity is the
function of Consciousness and awareness is an emergent property of
the neural activity as a means (instrumental action) to the effect
(emergent property) of becoming aware.

As has been pointed out in the Bhuvaneswar (1998), Consciousness by

itself cannot perform material action, since it has to act through matter
to manifest action. This is so because Consciousness is non-material
even though Prakruthi (Energy) as matter is inherent in it. Energy
‘emerges’ – as it were – as the kinetic state of consciousness which is
thinking without itself changing. In other words Consciousness
remains as it is but still it appears as if it were transforming itself into
thinking and thought. It is like a mirage appearing in a desert, or a
snake appearing on a rope in semi – darkness, etc. Technically, it is
called vivartha (apparent transformation like the mirage) as opposed
to parina:ma (real transformation as milk becoming curd).
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To explain a little further, the mirage or the snake of the action or

object appears due to svabha:vam (disposition) activated in the
presence of consciousness. Therefore, it is disposition that is critical in
the production of action. Let us know about it and see how it creates
not only the conceptualization of action but also its manner and
structure.

b) The Principle of Svabha:vam (Disposition)

According to Bhuvaneswar (1998) the svabha:vam (disposition or
personality) of a jiva (the Living Being) is fashioned out of his karma
(action) in order for the jiva to experience his karmaphalam (the fruits
of his action) by performing action generated from his svabha:vam.
[The concept of svabha:vam in the Ka:rmik Linguistic Theory is
evolutionary: it starts from the Given at the time of his birth and
evolves through his growth, survival, transformation, and decay from
the Seen and Chosen in the context of his living according to the
Given-Seen-Chosen Principle up to his death; however, it is stable for
long periods in an individual’s life because the evolutionary changes
evolve slowly and not suddenly - even though some changes appear
to have dramatically visible sudden bifurcation points, they are like
volcanic eruptions brewing for long in a butterfly-effect like manner.]
In other words, svabha:vam at the level above is a product of karma
and at the level middle, a function of karma to enable the jiva to
perform action in such a way that an appropriate Ka:rmik Reality is
created (or constructed) for the experience of his karmaphalam. At the
level below, it is structured in terms of cognitive reality, socio – cultural
reality, lingual (mental or vocal) reality, and actional reality as a whole.
In addition, svabha:vam being the source for the creation of action
(mental, vocal or physical) as well as its manner decides how language
should be used in terms of its function, meaning, pattern and structure
as well as manner according to variation in disposition.

Let us take an example from our daily life to see how disposition not
only affects the manner of performing action but also its
conceptualization and structuration. Later on we will take the case of
figures of speech and see how disposition is critical in their
conceptualization, structuration and variation.

The students in a particular class are disciplined and polite. So, their
teacher likes them and therefore wants (desires) all of them to pass in
the examination - he is impelled by the emotion of love or liking for the
students and so he got this desire. As a result, he makes the
examination very easy (manner of action) so that all the students can
answer well and pass in the examination. Love or liking is a
dispositional trait. This is the motivating force that impelled the
teacher to make a choice of setting the questions (as easy) and later
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on made him conceptualize the easy examination paper, plan the

pattern of organization in the questions in the paper, and prepare
(materialize) them. What was conceptualized, planned and executed
succeeded leading to making the question paper easy and enabling all
(or most of) the students to pass in the examination. The students who
were the recipients of this action experienced great pleasure and the
teacher who helped the students also experienced great happiness
that they passed the examination. That is why in Bhuvaneswar (1988),
in the discussion of “creation, production, and application of
phonemes” in section IV.A, the process of material action has been
formulated in the following equation:

1. Chaithanyam Svabha:vam [Function] Process

Pattern Structure.

In this case, svabha:vam in reaction to the contextual (environmental,

social, material-resource-positional) constraints developed a desire,
born out of the dispositional trait of love or liking, to help the students.
In order to fulfill the desire of helping the students, the function to help
the students in the examination developed. This in turn lead to a
conceptualization of the easy question paper in terms of a process,
pattern and structure which evolved out of knowledge, habituation,
and disposition. The process is the blue print of the action to be
embodied by its structuration. Structuration of the examination paper
is the actual involvement of the teacher to embody the pattern of
setting the examination questions easy. All this surely happened
because of the causative factor of love or liking which is a dispositional
trait. Had it not been so intensely there, all this would not have
happened! The question paper might have been set in a different way
altogether: in a difficult manner; in a mixed manner; etc.

Again, we have also shown how svabha:vam leads to an action loop of

Svabha:vam Desire Function Action Experience in section
IV.F of Bhuvaneswar (1998) while discussing the Principle of Networks
within Networks System of Organization of Language. In this loop,
action is initiated by svabha:vam and completed by the experience of
the results of action as pleasure or pain. From this loop, we
understand that the main function of the action of setting the
examination paper easy is to help the students and experience the joy
of fulfilling that desire. Therefore, the purpose of performing action is
to experience pleasure – if one succeeds in fulfilling the desire, he gets
happiness; if not unhappiness. And the purpose of svabha:vam is also
to make you experience the results of your action via the action. In
the process, svabha:vam transforms apparently only – because it
remains as it is – to constitute the desire, function and meaning and
pattern of organization in the individual and further make dispositional
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couplings with the material environment to embody the action. In this

type of action, svabha:vam needs external material to embody the
action, as we see it in the relative world.

In the Ka:rmik Theory of creation, as we have seem in Bhuvaneswar

(1998), svabha:vam is both the meaning (content) and the substance
(form), that is, the cognition, pattern, and structure of the process.
Since we are not interested in that philosophical debate of whether
form and content are different or one and the same, let us set it aside.
Here, what we are concerned with is whether svabha:vam is
responsible for the conceptualization, execution, and experience of
action or not. Suppose, if the svabha:vam is not love – oriented,
naturally, the experience will not produce happiness. Therefore,
svabha:vam is also responsible for the experience of pleasure or pain.
To put it differently, svabha:vam is used as a resource for the
experience of pleasure or pain.

But different people are said to have different types of svabha:vam

impelling them to do different types of actions producing different
results in different contexts. Only the contextual variables change.

The setting up of the easy question paper is a sa:ttvik (good) activity

par excellence.: the desire to help the students in a simple and honest
manner is sa:ttvik. Suppose, if you don’t like the students and want to
punish them, you will be impelled to give difficult questions. As you
are, so you think; as you think so you act; as you act, so shall you reap
according to your karma (action)!!!

And all this process of helping the students is carried on through

language: language is used to articulate the desire; create function,
meaning and pattern of organization of the activity and materialize it
by linguistic co-ordination. The entire sequence from the desire to help
the students to setting up easy questions could never have taken place
without the medium of language – even in other activities such as
treating a patient, arranging marriages, etc., language is critical.
Therefore, language is undoubtedly used as a resource in the
construction of ka:rmik reality, and it is a product of human beings,
produced to do so via dispositional reality. This is the function of
language and all others are subservient to accomplish this function.
Other theories such as formal or functional or cognitive are considered
fragmentary, only for this reason. If one wants to describe an elephant
as a living structure, and its function, and its place in the animal
kingdom as a living animal, one should describe it holistically and not
atomically like the mythical blind men palpating a part of it! Of what
avail is describing it in terms of its trunk, its leg, its ……?
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Just as love or liking triggered a series of actions from a desire to help

the students to its actual realization by making the question paper
easy, so also a desire to make language sound melodic – to
make it ‘beautiful’ (as we decorate things, arrange things, etc.
to make them look beautiful) - the principle of a phonological
figure of speech is born; sometimes, beauty/aesthetic appeal may
be a by-product of some other function such as explaining the abstract
in terms of a concrete image; here, the concrete image is a vehicle of
beauty and therefore by its choice aesthetic appeal is imparted to
language. Just as the creation of an easy question paper is a normal
flash of creativity, so also the phonemic ornamentation of language is
a special flash of creativity. It is exactly the same as the principle of
beautification in material activity. Human beings have cognized that
any activity can be constructed in such a way that the internal
components of action/product can be ordered or arranged
systematically; and they have further cognized dispositionally that
orderliness can bring about a change in the look of things, which
(change) is perceived to be beautiful. Orderliness involves a particular
pattern which is generally but not necessarily symmetrical or regularly
repetitive. It can also be isolated but the point is, its patterning in the
setup should bring in an appeal which is structured/constituted to be
so in the designer – onlooker – related disposition. A regularly
repetitive column of rows as in the parliament house of India or Taj
Mahal or an isolated, narrow streak of glistening black hair dangling on
a fair and soft forehead of a cute baby can mesmerize one with divine
beauty or fall flat on an insensitive soul!

As tastes differ, so also the concept of beauty differs: different strokes

for different folks! Nonetheless there is a universal tendency to
appreciate rhythmic strokes more than jarring ones. This is how the
disposition of human beings is created; it is this universal tendency to
see rhythm, order, symmetry and regularity that are carried on to
speech. That it is so can be observed in the conceptualization process
of figurative speech. Hence, this view of dispositional basis for figures
of speech is psychologically more real than other views in formal,
functional, or theories of language. As such, figures of speech are not a
unique property of speech; they are a general property applied
specifically in language and more frequently in proverbs.

In a material setting, symmetry and regularity are achieved by

arranging the material components in the setting in a symmetrical or
in a regular manner as the pillars in the Indian Parliament House. But
in language the components at the phonological level are phonemic
sounds. Therefore, symmetry in speech can be achieved by arranging
the phonemic sounds. The same principle of symmetry is realized in
the medium of bricks and lime in terms of bricks and lime as pillars and
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in the medium of sound in terms of sound as phonemes. In other

words, by changing the contextual variables, an innovation is brought
about. This is a very critical principle that determines the entire course
of human behavior and experience of pleasure and pain. The concept
of a principle and its productive extension is already made use of first
in semiotic representation (e.g., gestures and sound in humans and
smells by urination in the case of animals). It is again made use of in
the production of phonemes (see Bhuvaneswar 1998); now, it is further
made use of in the organization of phonemes in speech. The process of
a principle being made use of by productive extension can be captured
in the following diagram:

P A principle

1 2 3 n application

One more very interesting point is that this principle of symmetry or

order is not only in human beings but also in every aspect of nature –
in rocks, trees, animals (e.g., a tiger’s stripes or a zebra’s lines), etc.
Therefore, this is another instance of a principle and its productive
extension at a higher level of Nature. How could this principle of
symmetry or order be universally present? Rocks are not living
systems according to Systemic theory. Then how is this principle of
symmetry of order ‘known’ among them? If not, they could not form
themselves in an order. The intelligent principle immanent in Nature
must have shaped it like that! Even some letters are cognized both by
nature and humans. It is a living wonder that the Omkar Parvath (see
the Appendix I for the picture) has got AUM naturally inscribed by the
white ink of snow on it!!! This is a proof for the theory of consciousness
in ka:rmik linguistic theory. The same type of awareness is realized in
two different planes of existence pointing out to a common source of
intelligence underlying both the sentieent and insentient creation.
What neural activity is there in a non – living system like that Omkar
Parvath on which the most sacred letter of Sanathana Dharma is
inscribed? It surely must have been the result of ‘consciousness’ being
aware of a letter and forming it in a different plane with a different set
of inter-connected, inter-related, and inter-dependent components.

If awareness – as posited in the systemic theory (see Capra 1997, 2002

and Bhuvaneswar 1998 for a detailed discussion on this topic) – is a
phenomenon of neural activity in a living system, what is it in a non-
living system? There is no neural activity in a non – living system such
as the earth or the bicycle but the earth behaves like an autopoietic
structure as in the Gaia theory of science and so either the earth
should be a different type of a non-living but materially-living system
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or a living system proper. The latter seems to be illogical because

earth does not behave like us, yet it is like us. That is the conundrum!
Furthermore, by considering it an autopoietic structure, we should also
consider the whole universe as an autopoietic structure. Then the real
blow occurs to the theory of considering consciousness as an
‘emergent’ property that emerges out of the empty space. WHO
COGNIZED THE PROCESS, PATTERN, AND STRUCTURE BEFORE THE BIG BANG? In the
Big Bang Theory of Physics, the whole universe exploded from a
singularity, a point of no size (i.e., almost nil), into the size of a pin of a
grape fruit, and into the size of the giant universe in the age of a
second!!! Systemic Theory cannot say that there is a pattern of
organization before Big Bang, because there is no consciousness
before the big bang according to this theory which says: consciousness
is an emergent property. What is more, quantum theory also says that
there is not such a thing called matter at all at the sub atomic level of
the material world. On the other hand, if we agree that awareness is a
property of the Principle of Immanent Intelligence in Nature (posited in
physics as the Universal Laws) in the ka:rmik linguistic theory, then the
principle of aesthetic appeal can be explained as a dispositional
property of the ji:va:s derived from that Immanent Intelligence in
Nature. This property is further exploited by the process of a principle
and its productive extension as outlined earlier and in more detail in
Bhuvaneswar 1988).

Let us see how the concept of “A Principle and its Productive

Extension” brings about various phonological figures of speech in the
next Section C.

C. THE COGNITION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF FIGURE

OFSPEECH AND ITS PRODUCTIVE EXTENSION
In Bhuvaneswar (1998), the cognition of “A Principle and its Productive
Extension“ is one of the important principles in operation in the
formation of phonemic systems. According to this principle, an
individual cognizes a principle of performing action in a particular way
and applies that particular principle productively to extend the range
and depth of such action. For example, it has been shown that by a
creative dispositional cognition of producing a sound by manipulating
the vocal organs at a particular place of articulation with a particular
manner of articulation, human beings produced sounds. They extended
the same principle productively by changing ‘the contextual variables’
of the place and manner of articulation to produce a range of different
sounds as phonemes and further manipulated these phonemes by
again changing the place and manner of articulation of a particular
phoneme to produce allophones by varying the depth of each sound as
and when they are dispositionally impelled to do so. As a result, we
got a system of phonemes and allophones in a language.
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The same procedure of cognizing a principle and then productively

extending its application by a manipulation of the contextual variables
is also made use of in the case of phonological figures of speech.
Such a principle is the result of a tendency for creativity with
an underlying implication for functionality. In other words, an
extension of structuration for a functional application took place
because of dispositional creativity – without a tendency for functional
creativity, such extension would not have taken place. As it has been
pointed out in the discussion of phonotactic changes in Bhuvaneswar
(1998, 2009), all expansion takes place because of ra:jasik
svabha:vam (the disposition for activity), and all (creative) cognition
takes place because of sa:ttvik svabhvam (the disposition for
cognitivity, creativity). Therefore, the productive extension of a
cognitive principle (let us call it ‘productive principiality’ for short) is a
sa:ttvik-ra:jasik action. Again, cognition of a figure of speech is
associated with ‘beauty’ and ‘happiness’ and therefore it is also
sa:ttvik.

The contextual variables in the production of phonemes are the place

and manner of articulation (excluding suprasegmental features of
pitch, loudness, length, stress and intonation). In the case of figures of
speech at the phonemic level, it can be their position in a word: initial,
medial or final and their systematic recursion in words joined together
to form normal sentences or proverbs. Manipulation of these
contextual variables will give us certain patterns of organization and
their subsequent embodiment in sound gives us the structures of
figures of speech. Let us see how English and Telugu speakers
manipulated the languages they speak, as products of their
dispositional cognition representational action of action.

According to Leech (1969: 89), “Phonological schemes, like formal

ones, consist either of free repetition or of parallelism”. Again, they
can occur at the level of individual vowels and consonants or rhythmic
patternings of syllables.

The general structural formula for the English syllable is C0-3 V C0-4 (i.e.
a cluster of up to three consonants followed by a vowel nucleus
followed by a cluster of up to four consonants)

The speakers of English language and proverbs have discovered that,

by manipulating the contextual variables of phonemes within a
syllable, they can bring order which in turn leads to ‘beautification’ of
the syllables. Such a discovery is not a unique discovery made first in
language. As has been already pointed out, it is present in nature, for
example, in flowers and marks on animals and in ‘fractal’ shapes of
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clouds (as discovered in fractal geometry of mathematics and physics).

What is new and creative is the discovery of a phoneme within a
syllable as, what I call a contextual variable. Once this discovery of the
contextual variable is made for the productive extension of the
principle of beautification by an orderly arrangement of the variables,
the figure of speech is already born. The rest is only a matter of its
grouth and development.

There is also a possibility of analogy and imitation of a principle from a

source of contact. In the case of English, there are many languages
such as French and Latin which might have transmitted this idea to
English. Sometimes, a figure of speech might have occurred naturally
and discovered by the hearer and further applied as a principle.
Whatever be the case, the speakers must have cognized this idea of a
rhetorical figure of speech, made a dispositional choice of accepting it
by making the necessary dispositional couplings and then incorporated
this principle into their system. Therefore, disposition comes twice into
the picture: first in the cognition of the principle; second, in its
acceptance for application.

The same procedure of productive principality is further found in the

phonological figures of speech in proverbs. In this case, there is a
generic extension of a principle and a further extension of an extended
principle in the case of productive variables.

Let us take some examples to illustrate the above discussion.

1. PHONOLOGICAL FIGURES OF SPEECH IN ORDINARY

LANGUAGE
Parallelism exists in phonemes whenever there is a partial
correspondence between pieces of text if there is a full
correspondence it results in verbal repetition. But there is no
parallelism if all three structural parts of syllable vary at once – then, a
new word will come into the context without any parallelism. Again,
there will also be no parallelism if all three parts of the syllable stay the
same. According to Leech (ibid 90), such a level of analysis gives “six
possible ways in which either one or two of the structural parts may
vary. (The unvarying parts are in bold face; C symbolizes a consonant
cluster, not a single consonant.):

[a] cvc great/grow send sit (‘alliteration’)

[b] cvc great/fail send/bell (ASSONANCE)
[c] cvc great/meat send/hand (CONSONANCE)
[d] cvc great/grazed send/sell (REVERSE RHYME)
[e] cvc great/groat send/sound (PARARHYME)
[f] cvc great/bait send/end (‘rhyme’)
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In the above analysis, parallelism between syllables is viewed in terms

of the phonemic make up of the three constituents CVC. This is
analysis at one particular level. Such an analysis of parallelism can also
be made in terms of practical identity instead of full identity as shown
in the above examples.

In practical identity either one of the phonemes of a cluster will be

parallel or a feature of the phoneme will be parallel. For example, in
the pair good/glad, both the initial consonant clusters contain |g| but in
the first cluster, there is only a single consonant while in the second,
two consonants. The second consonant is not parallel in the pair. In
other words, it results in semi – alliteration as opposed to full
alliteration in the pair gloom/glad. Sometimes, only a feature of the
phoneme say +voiced, may be common and not the whole phoneme
as in the example of the following pair eyes/bless. Here, there is semi –
consonance. In other words, “there can be foregrounding of certain
classes of sound, such as sibilants nasals, back vowels, etc., as well as
of individual sounds and sound clusters”.(ibid)

Even though Leech has not mentioned about semi – pararhyme we can
also include that possibility as observed in the pair bus/buzz. However,
such a feature I think is not extended to rhyme in English. For
example, there is a semi – rhyme in the pair hid/bid.

When this pattern of a figure of speech used in normal language is

further extended to proverbs, such an instance is only a further
application of productive principiality across the genres. Let us see
how phonological figures of speech are used in proverbs in the next
sub – section.
2. PHONOLOGICAL FIGURES OF SPEECH IN PROVERBS AS
LANGUAGE AND AS A GENRE OF LANGUAGE
Phonological figures of speech in proverbs are frequently a feature of
proverbs as a genre of language rather than proverbs as language.
There is a strong dispositional functional reason for this. Proverbs are
culturally frozen texts embodying valuable social praxis and so
naturally the makers of proverbs (i.e., people) want them to look
‘beautiful’ as do people in other walks of life. For example, when
people make an instrument or construct a house or wear clothes, they
want them to look beautiful. If an architect constructs a house, it will
be much more beautiful. Beauty as a principle in the performance of
action is universally acknowledged – whether it is achieved or not is a
different matter. That means human beings as they are created are
created with this trait of disposition inherent in them. However, it
varies in its degree of presence in human beings. Some are extremely
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beauty conscious and some are not. Again, each according to his taste
(i.e., disposition) considers what is beautiful and what is not.

The same is observed in the case of proverbs also. Some are

excessively ridden with figures of speech while others are bare without
them. so we come across a wide range of their employment in
proverbs.

Let us take some representative samples to show how phonological

figures of speech in English and Telugu proverbs are represented.

A. ALLITERATION
According to Leech (1969: 91), alliteration is the parallelism which
consists in keeping A constant while B varies where A is the initial
consonant cluster and B the whole of what follows A, prior to the onset
of the next stressed syllable as captured in the following figure:
C V C …. C V C …. CVC
A B A B A B

A general understanding of alliteration is that it is a figure of speech in

which consonants, vowels, and/or syllables occur in close proximity
within a line. The most common form of simple alliteration is the so-
called Beginning Rhyme or Head Rhyme in poetry in which alliteration
occurs at the beginning of words and is usually consonantal, as in,

1. Love laments loneliness.

2. He that strikes with the sword shall be stricken with the
scabbard.
3. If you hate a man let him live.
4. Spare the rod and spoil the child.
5. As wise as Waltham’s cow.
6. Good luck disappears like our hair, bad luck lasts like our
nails.
7. Many a good cow has a bad calf.
8. Blood boils without fire.
9. The horse rides the rider.
10. Don’t make a mountain of a molehill!

More complex forms include Parallel or Crossed Alliteration in which

two different systems of alliteration are interwoven. In such types of
alliteration, dispositional creativity for newness and variety comes into
play and bring in complexity in the productive extension of a principle.
For example, in a simple proverb like “Happy men shall have many
friends”, two systems are interwoven (as in coleridge’s famous phrase
“the fair breeze blew, the white foam flew”). One system is the
sequence h…h and the other m….m. Theoretically such complexity
 14

can be extended to a considerable length in a sentence depending on

its length. A few examples of this type are given below:

11. If you are an anvil hold still; if you are a hammer strike hard.
12. The cat may look at a king, they say, but would rather look at
a mouse any day.
13. Don crow till yuh git out o’de woods;
14. Fresh air and sunstine and plenty of grace slam the door in
the doctor’s face.
15. He who commences many thing’s finishes but few.
16. Sit still in the boat that carries you across deep water.
17. The worst wheel makes the most noise.
18. A city that sits on a hill cannot be hid.
19. Telling lies is a fault in a boy; an art in a lover; an
accomplishment in a bachelor; and second nature in a
married man.
20. All are good girls but where do the bad wives come from?
21. Don’t stick your hand in boiling water to see if it is hot.

There is one more difficult form of alliteration called Suspended

alliteration in which a consonant – and – vowel – combination in one
word is reversed in a succeeding word, as in “Herds of fallow deer were
feeding” (Longfellow). Examples of this kind of alliteration are not
easily found in proverbs but their existence cannot be ruled out
because there is no phonetic rule that suspended alliteration is
prohibited in proverbs.

There is one more type of alliteration, called, submerged or Thesis

Alliteration, in which unstressed syllables of words are alliterated. For
example, in the following proverb dis – and de – alliterate with each
other:
We easily disbelieve those thing’s which we desire not.

Some other examples are:

22. First endure, then pity, then embrace.
23. Ingratitude is unpardonable and dries up the fountain of all
goodness.
24. Inconsistency is the only thing in which men are consistent.

Another variation in submerged alliteration is Semi-submerged

Alliteration which is not commented upon but which is very common in
proverbs. In this type of alliteration, an unstressed syllable alliterates
with a stressed syllable and sets up an alliterative sequence as in the
following examples:
25. An acre of performance is worth the whole world of promise.
26. It takes all kinds of people to make the world.
 15

27. Discouragement is the devils most valuable tool.

28. The dependent man must dine late and eat the leftovers.
29. Practice makes perfect.

In practice makes perfect, pr- is the consonant cluster in practice while

p – is the only consonant in perfect. Such types of alliteration are not
uniform; if it is a sequence of stressed syllables only, then we can call
it semi-alliteration but it is not. So it is an irregular semi-submerged
alliteration.

So far we have seen how the principle of parallelism has been

creatively manipulated to productively extend the range and depth of
its application. The main process of cognition of a principle and its
productive extension is so important that not only the figures of
speech but also the entire system of language owes its size to this
principle alone.

When we look at alliteration as a process, since it is based on the

principle of beauty, it is Sa:ttvik in its cause. Within that dispositional
trait domain, all the variations should be accounted for. Again within
alliteration, if we take Beginning Rhymes as Sa:ttvik, then complex
alliteration which involves parallel or crossed alliteration and
suspended alliteration become ra:jasik lingual actions because the
principle of expansion and complexity involved in the process. Hence,
they will be sa:ttvik – ra:jasik in their formation. In a similar way, semi-
alliteration, submerged or thesis alliteration and semi-submerged
alliteration will become ta:masik process and hence they will be
sa:ttvik-ta:masik process.

The alliteration meter used to link and emphasize important words

within the metrical units by dividing each line in to two hemistich units
(half lines) by caesure (decisive pause) will be taken up for discussion
in prosody. In alliterative meter, at least one and usually both of the
two stressed words in the first half line alliterate with the first stressed
word of the second half-line.

B. RHYME
In rhyme, parallelism is obtained by keeping B constant and varying A
in the figure… mentioned in alliteration. Rhyme is considered as a
basic component of verse form and is achieved by a correspondence
between measures rather than syllables. Generally monosyllabic
rhymes are in the majority but there is a possibility of two syllable
rhymes (‘feminine’ rhymes) such as better/splutter,
stationary/inflationary. According to Leech, “various types and
degrees of ‘imperfect rhyme’ have been accepted in English verse –
particularly in light verse, where virtuosity in solving, or roughly
 16

solving, difficult problems of rhyme is a source of entertainment in

itself: table/miserable; scullion/bullion; pretty/bet I; etc.” (1969: 92).
Furthermore, “A rhyme need not, of course, be confined within the
boundaries of a single word, as is shown by such examples as linnet/in
it, save you/gave you” (ibid.).

Proverbs as culturally frozen texts of valuable social praxis are

considered precious and therefore there is a dispositional inclination
tro make them look ‘beautiful’. Such an attitude resulted in making
them more refined and aesthetically appealing. Accordingly, the
people who are aesthetically conscious explored ways of polishing or
refining or construing them in a compact framework as a work of art.
That is the reason why we come across many figures of speech such as
alliteration, rhyme, etc. in proverbs. However, such a view can be
universally applied in proverbs if the context of the social praxis via
lexis, syntax, and phonology is amenable to refinements at the formal
level. In addition, the people who construe the proverbs should also be
aesthetically knowledgeable and social praxis wise well informed to
make ‘aesthetic couplings’ with the content and form. Finally, it is the
dispositional liking or disliking for figures of speech that decides the
choice of a figure of speech when they are not naturally formed.

The same principles of reality, dispositionality, productive principality

as applicable in the case of alliteration also come into play in the
production of rhyme as a figure of speech in proverbs.

There are two types of rhyme which are cognized in poetry: end
rhymes and internal rhymes. For example, in the off quoted stanza of
Coleridge’s quoted kubla khan below we find both the internal and
external rhymes:

a. pleasure – measure : internal rhyme

b. ran – man; decree- sea; external rhyme

In xanadu did kubla khan

A stately pleasure – dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

Both these types of rhyme are obtained in proverbs as a genre of

language. However, internal rhyme occurs in majority because
separating them into two parts most of the proverbs are in single lines.
Proverbs with semi colons can be considered as two line proverbs. In
such cases, the internal rhyme becomes, sort of end rhyme. A few
examples are given below:
 17

a. Internal Rhyme
30. What can’t be cured must be endured
31. Fool’s names and fool’s faces are always seen in public
places.
32. When the cow is in the clout, she’s soon out.
33. Life is hard by the yard but by the inch life’s a cinch.
34. He that speaks ill of the mare will buy her.
b. End Rhyme
35. Pride goeth forth on horseback, grand and gray
But cometh back on foot, and begs its way.
36. Knowledge talks lowly; ignorance talks loudly
Men seldom make passed at girls who wear glasses.
37. Do right and feat no man
Don’t write and fear no woman
38. The Wrong shall fail, the right prevail
39. Small head little wit, big head, not a bit.

We also know that alliteration and rhyme can also occur together in
the same proverb. In fact, many figures of speech can be co-occur
within the same proverb making it more ornate. For example, in “when
the cow is in the clout, she’s soon out”, there is both semi –
alliteration(cow ….clout) and internal rhyme (clout …out). Since out
has no consonant at the onset, it should be considered a case of zero
realization.

As we have seen in Bhuvaneswar (1988) and in alliteration in this

article, complexity or expansion is a result or ra:jasik activity.
Therefore, internal rhymes can be considered ra:jasik while end
rhymes sa:ttvik. In a similar way, if the rhymes occur more than once
in a proverb or if there are bisyllabic or polysyllabic rhymes (in a
proverb) they should also be considered ra:jasik. Complexity,
expansion elaborateness are all attributes of rajas. In that sense,
rhymes occurring across words such as in ‘Linnit/ in it’ should also be
considered ra:jasik. Pairs such as agreed/ greed are not considered
rhymes in English and so they are ta:masik attempts to make rhymes.
But zero – consonant realization in rhymes is ta:masik.

c) ASSONANCE AND CONSONANCE

In assonance, there is a correspondence between the medical vowels
in a pair of words such as great/ fail; send/bell. In consonance, there is
a correspondence between the end consonants as in great/ meat;
send/hand.
 18

From an overall perspective of phonological figures speech, if we look

at alliteration assonance, consonance, reverse rhyme, pararhyme, and
rhyme, we notice that in alliteration, assonance, and consonance, only
one phonemic unit is involved. Within that phonemic unit, there can be
single or more than one consonant. On the other hand, in rhyme,
reverse rhyme and pararhyme two phonemic units a vowel and a
consonant; or two consonant clusters – are involved. Therefore, we can
say that there is an expansion of the figurative action in the second
set. As result, we can say that reverse rhyme, pararhyme and rhyme
are ra:jasikally motivated while alliteration, assonanve and consonance
are Sa:ttvik. Again since parallelistic configuration is progressively
delayed in the case of assonance and consonance, we can consider
them as sa:ttvik – ta:masik formation. On the other hand, in the case of
reverse rhyme, it is ra:jasik because both alliteration and assonance
are combined to form the rhyme. So a better word would be initial
rhyme for this sequence since it is formed at the beginning of words. In
such a view, ‘rhyme’ in its normal sense will become final rhyme in
accordance with the terminology of initial, medical, and final positions
of phonemes in a word. Then pararhyme will be ra:jasik – ta:masik and
final rhyme will also be ra:jasik-ta:masik since the emphasis is shifted
from the initial to the second phoneme from the initial rhyme position,
bringing another shift from the second to the third positions. So let us
show them in the following table.

1a) Alliteration CVC sa:ttvik

Assonance CVC sa:ttvik-ta:masik
Consonance CVC sa:ttvik-ta:masik (-ta:masik)
Initial Rhyme CVC ra:jasik
(‘Reverse Rhyme’)
Pararhyme CVC ra:jasik-ta:masik
Final rhyme CVC ra:jasik-ta:masik (-ta:masik)
(‘Rhyme’)
In the case of consonance, the emphasis shifts by two positions and so
we considered it as sa:ttvik – ta:masik (-ta:masik) where (-ta:masik) is
the symbol for the third order delicacy of operation.

On the other hand, in the final rhyme (‘rhyme’) the emphasis shifts
from the first to the second phoneme and again from the second to the
third phoneme from the vantage point of initial rhyme. So it becomes
ra:jasik-ta:masik (-ta:masik) action if we show the third order delicacy
of the operation.

Another important point to note is the nature of the prevalence of the

three types of action, namely, sa:ttvik, ra:jasik, and ta:masik actions.
In some cases, all the three types of action are productive; in others,
they are selective. It is so because of the nature of the human beings.
 19

Language is a product of human beings and therefore as human beings

are, so will be their language! Some people like to grow long hair and
beard (it is ra:jasik!) while others are content with moderate hair
(sa:ttvik!) while some others like to have no hair (ta:masik!). So also in
the case of language. But the difference, in the case of language, is
the figures of speech so formed will remain in our memory and as and
when some body is dispositionally inclined to them, he will make use of
them.

What is more, any action can be turned from one state to another state
either by activation expansion) or inertialization (contraction). That
means a sa:ttvik action can be expanded into a ra:jasik action or
contracted into a ta:masik action. In a similar way, a ra:jasik action
can be reduced to a ta:masik action via sa:ttvik action and a ta:masik
action can be expanded into a ra:jasik action via sa:ttvik action. A
sitting man can stand up and walk and finally run and vice versa by
expansion and contraction of action. These are all general
dispositional traits which are equally shared by all the three types of
mental, vocal, and physical actions of human beings. That is the
reason why we see so many changes in languages whose root cause is
in SVABHA:VAM. That is why there is Happy tensing or smoothing or R
Dropping, insertion and retention and so on and so forth.

Finally, in human beings all these three states of sattva, rajas, and
tamas are ever present but in different degrees and stages. In some,
sattva will be dominant; in others rajas or tamas. Again, the same
stage may not be there constantly throughout life. If fluctuates as the
individual makes dispositional couplings within oneself to react with
the environment. Let us take some examples to show the presence of
assonance and consonance in proverbs.

2. ASSONANCE
40. Never cast an anchor in shifting sand.
41. Cards and dice is like all in life; dey (they) ever falls (fall) well for
bold
players
42. A fool’s name, like a fool’s face, is always stuck in a public place.
43. Blame is safer than praise.
44. The big fish eat the little ones; the little ones eat shrimps, and the
shrimps
are forced to eat mud.
45. Haste makes waste.

3. CONSONANCE
45. Don’t sit around and talk about what you are going to do – do it.
46. Put not your trust in money, but put your money in trust.
 20

47. You haven’t lived if you haven’t loved.

48. Men always hate most what they envy most.
49. Old brag is a good dog, but hold fast is a better one.
50. He who laughs last laughs best.

d) REVERSE RHYME AND PARARHYME

In reverse rhyme, there is a parallelism between the first two
(consonant cluster + vowel) sequences in a pair of words such as
great/grazed; send/sell and in pararhyme the parallelism is between
the sequences of first and last phonemic cluster in a pair of words such
as great/groat and sent/sound. Reverse rhyme is called initial rhyme in
our discussion in view of its motivation from alliteration.
A few examples are given below.
1. INITIAL RHYME (OR REVERSE RHYME)
51. Sleeping cats catch no mice. [kh….kh]
52. Needles and pins: when a man marries his trouble begins.
[mx…..mx]
53. Thin ice and Thick ice look the same from a distance (i…….i)
54. Speak, spend and speed, quoth John of Bathon. (spi:…….spi:)
55. He who puts up with insult invites injury. (in……in)
56. Where every one goes the grass never grows. [geu……geu]
57. The feet are slow when the head wears snow. [sleu…..sneu]

2. PARARHYME
58. Rest, rust, rot.
59. You must cut your coat according to your cloth.
60. A dead man tells no tales.
61. No mill, no meal; no will, no deal.
62. You can’t make a good coat out of bad wool.
63. Speak, spend, and speed, quoth John of Bathon.

There are two more important figures of speech related to the

patternings of sound. They are chiming and onomatopoeia with are
discussed below.
e) CHIMING AND ONOMATOPOEIA
Chiming is a figure of speech in which two words are connected by
similarity of sound so that we are made to think of their possible
connections which Leech calls ‘a phonetic bond between words’ (Leech
1969: 95). Such kind of a phonetic bond is made use of extensively to
play on concepts and create subtle shades of meaning. For example,
in the proverb “The law of love is better than the love of law”, the
words law and love are connected by their phonetic bond, an
alliterative bond, leading to chiming. This is a very productive
principle and is made use of copiously in American English proverbs in
a variety of ways.
 21

A few examples are given below.

64. A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long
enough.
65. Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.
66. If you aren’t what you ain’t, then you ain’t what you are.
67. To love is to live and to live is to love.
68. You haven’t lived if you haven’t loved.
69. Get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and live
contentedly.
70. Out of debt, out of danger.
71. Creep and creep beats hop and sleep.
72. Faults are thick when love is thin.

Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech in which a resemblance between

“what a piece of language sounds like, and what it refers to” [Leech
1969: 97] exists. However, it should be noted that the relation
between sound and reference is arbitrary and dispositionally
perceived. For example, the bee buzzes in English and sounds ‘jhum’
in Telugu; the dog bowwows and the nightingale cuckoos in English but
they bhau..bhau and kuhukuhu respectively in Telugu – somewhat
similar in both the languages. In addition, the “power of suggesting
natural sounds or other qualities is relatively weak – too weak to
operate unsupported by meaning – and because of its range, is only
latent. The semantic content of words has to activate and focus this
imitative potential. If the semantic content does not do this, then the
collections of sounds are in most cases neutral” (ibid. 97). However,
the mimetic power of sounds is taken into consideration and
onomatopoeia is skillfully used to ‘enact the sense’ rather than merely
echo it in certain cases.

Let us take a few examples from proverbs and see how this enactment
of sense is dispositionally perceived.

In the proverb “The buzz of a mosquito can drown out the ocean’s
roar”, the buzz of a mosquito admirably enacts the sense of ‘can
drown’ ‘the oceans roar’. Here the phrase ‘ocean’s roar’ can be
contextually heard as the breaking sound of sea waves and ‘can
drown’ be heard as the sound produced when one is drowned with the
highly onomatopoeic buzz. One must have an experience of listening
to the mosquito’s buzzing and the ocean waves breaking loudly to
establish the pathways of empathy and synaesthesia in the proverb
with the activity. The fore grounded repetition of the consonants
r…..r… and n….n…n (also in consonance) and the onomatopoeic words
buzz and roar bring forth the mimetic power of sounds enacting sense.
73. If you drive don’t drink, if you drink, don’t drive.
 22

74. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

75. Praise publicly, blame privately.
In (64) A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long
enough, the positional variation ‘of long, life, and good’ highlight them
and the interchange of long and good in the second part of the
sentence brings in chiming in addition to the alliterative effect of |l|, |b|
as well as |g| and |e| by verbal repetition.

In (74) Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, the consonance

brought about by the repetition of |lz| in fools and angels establishes a
phonetic bond between them and the frequency of |r| in rush, where,
and tread in British English with an additional |fear| in American
English in combination with |lz| brings in chiming.

In (72) Faults are thick when love is thin, the initial rhyme (reverse
rhyme as in Leech’s terminology) establishes a bond between thick
and thin and brings in chiming of a different order.

Other examples should be interpreted appropriately. However, there is

a problem in considering what is musical and what is not. Tastes differ
but when there is a regularity of sound effects, it should be considered
musical.
A few more examples are given below:
76. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.
77. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
78. Hit out or get out.
79. Windy boys live stormy lives.
80. Don’t build your castles in the air.
81. All that rustles is not silk.
82. It is too late to lock the stable door when the steed is stolen.
In the last proverb, the length of the proverb along with the alliteration
brings in the effect of ‘lateness’ and ‘futility’.

In Telugu, all these figures of speech are used, some times with more
frequency than in English. For example, alliteration is much more
common in Telugu proverbs than in English. In addition to it, many
Telugu proverbs contain conditional and conjunctional propositions. In
such proverbs, the important Telugu prosodic features of vadi, prasa,
and yati are observed. Vadi or its mitraksharams are syllables which
are friendly, i.e., which go together in the subsequent lines of a poem
while prasa is the parallelism of the second syllable consonant sound in
the subsequent lines in that position. In Telugu poetry, sometimes the
second, third and fourth syllables are composed in parallel consonant
sounds. Since the conditional and conjunctional propositions can be
 23

split into two or more parts, yati and prasa can be observed in their
structure. For example, the following proverb has a conditional
proposition in the first part separated by a comma:

(83) kashtapadi illu katti, kallu ta:gi tagula bettinatlu

hardworking by house building by, toddy drinking burning by like
“Like ‘having built a house by suffering, (and then) burning it by
drinking toddy’ ”.

In this proverb, the first letter ka in the first part is the same as the
first letterka in the second part, thus maintaining yati. In addition
to it, there is alliteration : (ka…ka…ka) ; ( taù …ta ) ,
Consonance (sht…tt..tt..t), assonance (a…a…a…a…a…a),

Vowel rhyme (padi, katti, ta:gi, betti), and syllabic rhyme (i()u…
()u…u) in the same proverb. Furthermore, tagula bettinatlu is a
highly suggestive choice of a word in the proverb – alcohol burns in the
stomach, burns the property (wastes money), and burns the house
(ruins it).

In the proverb (84)

ku:cemma ku:dabedite:, ma:cemma ma:jam
che:sindita .
Kuchemma saved if, Machemma vanishing did that

“If Kuchemma saved, Machemma spent it invisibly”, there is prasa in

the second part of the proverb – ce in Kuchemma is repeated as the
second letter of Machemma. In addition to it, there is alliteration,
syllabic rhyme, assonance, consonance, and dviprasa (two letter prasa
parallelism) in Machemma and Kuchemma – the second and third
letters in these words are identical – also.

There are 39 yatis and 6 prasas (Timmakavi, Lingamagunta (1998 : 94-

95; 147). Therefore, there is a need to investigate the range of their
use in proverbs which is not yet attempted. Proverbs are formed in
two ways from: 1. folklore; 2. literature. Proverbs in literature,
especially, poetry are constructed in a metrical pattern and therefore
they exhibit a metrical structure. There are many of them from Telugu
poetry, especially, sataka literature. For example, the proverb
(85) peruua iruua korake:
Growing (is) breaking for only

“Growing is for breaking only” follows the metre of a kanda poem line.
It forms the third line of the poem No.103 in Sumathi Sathakam.
(Murthy, B.S. 1992 : 53)
 24

This line became popular in folk speech and eventually gained the
status of a proverb by its prototypicalization. There are 26 varieties of
metre in Telugu which are divided into two important categories : 1.
Vruttam ; 2. Jati and Upajati. The permutations and combinations of
the 26 varieties of metre (Chandas) yield around 130 million variations
out of which only 200 are mentioned by the Telugu & Sanskrit
rhetoricians. Again, out of them, only 50 are used in books. No
comprehensive treatment of metre in Telugu proverbs has been
undertaken so far – it will itself be a Ph. D. topic! However, for the
purpose of our analysis, it will suffice to know that proverbs in Telugu
are sometimes created according to metre as shown in the above
example.

In English proverbs also, the same type of a situation can be noticed.

Proverbs formed from literature, from poetry may exhibit metrical
character. In English, there are four main types of foot that are
significant in versification: 1. iamb; 2. trochee; 3. anapaest; 4. dactyl.
For example, Kipling’s (86) (For) the female of the species is more
deadly than the male which became a proverb in American English
(ADEP : 206) is written in the four syllabic ‘paeonic metre’ (Leech 1969
: 112). Leech (ibid P.117) scans the line as follows:

(86) \
For the// female \
of the// species \
is more// deadly \
than the //
male

considering for, of, is, and than as more prominent than their
immediate neighbours the, the, more, and the. So there is a trochaic
pattern seen throughout:
/
For x the // fe x male / of x the// spe x cies / is x more// dead x ly / than x the//
male

Scansion of proverbs in English shows that a strict adherence to stress

patterns will yield irregular metrical lines in some cases for example,
(87) “All that glisters is not gold/ (often have you heard that told)
[Shakespeare’s Merchant of
Venice II .vii.65]
will be an irregular trochaic pattern if we assign stress according to the
usual pattern : All that glisters is not gold.

There are many proverbs in folk speech itself which lend themselves to
a patterned metrical structure. For example, (16) / Stop, / look, / listen;
(88) / Fin x ders / kee x pers, / lox sers/ wee x pers; (89) x You / can’t x grow /
figs x from / thistles; (90) x The / ol x der x the / fiddle, x the / be x tter x the
/
tune. So also in Telugu. For example, (91) ‘kat*te, ‘kotxte, ‘tecxce,
(built, hit, brought); (92) / uù x ru / pomxman /tun xi,/ kaù x du / ram xman /
 25

tun x di (The town asks you to go, the burial ground asks you to come);
(93) / cuù x ci /ram x man / teù/ ka:lx ci/ vac x ci/ natxlu ((If asked to) see and
come, he came after burning); (94) x a/ din x ceù/ do x ka x du, x u/nin x
ceù/do x ka x du (earning is by one, counting is by another).
Nonetheless, most of the proverbs both in Telugu and English are not
patterned strictly according to metre.

So far we have discussed how phonological figures of speech such as

alliteration, assonance, consonance, initial rhyme (reverse rhyme),
pararhyme, and final rhyme (rhyme), chiming, onomatopoeia, and
metrical variations (prosody) are used in proverbs with example.

All the details discussed above belong to the level of ‘patterns of

organization’. As they are superimposed on the proverb’s already
existing pattern of organization of phonemes as words and
expressions, we get a figurative pattern of organization. This can take
place by automacity of figurative proverbial cognition or by algorithmic
cognition of the proverb first and a figurative superimposition on the
pattern of organization of the proverb. In natural figurative proverbial
cognition, automaticity is the norm, i.e., the figures of speech are
naturally embedded into the cognitive process and then the proverb is
cognized. It is like weaving the cloth with coloured yarn as opposed to
weaving the cloth and then dying it. Sometimes, figurative proverbial
cognition may be due to a natural figurative lexical configuration. That
means, unconsciously, a figure of speech will be formed as the form is
cognized. In such cases, there is dispositional figurative intentionality.
For example, the beginning sentence “All the details discussed above
belong…, of this paragraph has an unintentionally formed figurative
configuration of alliteration (details… discussed). Sometimes, proverbs
also get such figures of speech, especially, in syntax.

In all the above discussion of phonological figures of speech we have

concentrated mainly on their process, pattern of organization, and
structure. We have not included how such a structure becomes the
shared knowledge of the society. It becomes the shared knowledge of
the society in the same way as phonemes become: individual –
collective standardization, social valorization, the final process of
transmission, application, and retention in the collective memory of the
group will take place. This is a dynamic process until the standard
form is arrived at; and then it becomes stable.

Again as any principle or product, depending upon the dispositional

inclination of the society at large, these proverbs and the figures of
speech will survive or fluctuate or die completely.

IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

 26

In the Literature Review, it has been mentioned that phonological

figures of speech are extensively discussed in the critical proverb
literature but not motivated from a dispositional perspective.

In the Analysis and Interpretation of the phonological figures of

Speech, it has been shown that the principle of aesthetic appeal which
is an aspect of Sa:ttvik disposition is the cause of (phonological) figures
of speech since a figure of speech is an ornament for beautification
bringing in delight. As happiness, delight, appeal for beauty, etc. are
sa:ttvik aspects of disposition, figures of speech are generated from
sattva.

Just as in any productive process, the cognition of a principle and its

productive extension are the cause of the range and depth of figures of
speech.

Finally, it has been pointed out that the phonological figures of speech
also get standardized at the individual – collective, sociocultural, and
the societal levels by valorization, transmission and retention of the
concerned figure of speech in the proverb.

The occurrence of figures of speech in proverbs provides concrete

evidence to show that language is dispositionally fashioned out and so
are proverbs as a genre of language. Since dispositionality is ka:rmik,
figures of speech provide evidence for the Ka:rmik Linguistic Theory.

REFERENCES
Bhuvaneswar, Chilukuri [1988]. “The Phonology of English and Telugu
Proverbs 1 Phonemic systems, phonotactics, and phonetic Realization:
evidence for Ka:rmik Linguistic Theory”. A part of Ph. D. Thesis CIEFL:
Hyderabad
--------- [2008]. “CLT and KLT: A Contrastive
Review”. Al-Mergib Journal of English Studies, Ghasar Khiar and Al-
Khoums. Edited by Meenaga Jagadeeshwara Rao.
--------- [2009]. “The Phonotactics of R: Formal
Linguistic Evidence for Ka:rmik Linguistic Theory”. Al-Mergib Journal of
English Studies, Ghasar Khiar and Al-Khoums. Edited by Meenaga
Jagadeeshwara Rao.
Capra, Fritjof [1997]. The Web of Life. London: Flamingo
Capra, Fritjof [2002]. The Hidden Connections. New York: Doubleday
Leech, Geoffrey N. [1969]. A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
 27

Mieder, Wolfgang [1982]. International Proverb Scholarship: An

Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland Publishing

[1990]. International Proverb

Scholarship. An Annotated Bibliography. Supplement I (1800-1981).
New York: Garland Publishing
[1993]. International proverb
Scholarship: An Annotated Bibliography. Supplement Ii (1982-1991).
New York: Garland Publishing
[2001]. International Proverb
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