Ethno-cultural aspects of marriage proverbs in Chinese and English

Abstract The relevance of this study is due to the need to build an intercultural dialogue in a globalised world. Through the analysis of ethnocultural traditions and their presentation in national languages, it is possible to better understand the specifics of communication, mentality, and culture of ethnic groups. The purpose of the study is to determine the ethnocultural conditions in which the Chinese and English languages developed, using the example of the analysis of proverbs about marriage. The following methods are used in the study: lexical-semantic, ethnocultural, linguocultural, folklore, functional-pragmatic, contextual analysis, and comparative. As a result of examining proverbs about marriage in English and Chinese, they were grouped according to ethnocultural, lexical-semantic, and functional-pragmatic principles. In particular, the following thematic groups of proverbs were identified: related to the concept of marriage (economic conditions, requirements for a partner, age of marriage, the right to free choice) and related to the criteria for choosing a partner (perception of women and men, the purpose of marriage, the basics of conflict resolution, the institution of marriage). The differences and similarities between the presentation of marital relations in Chinese and English ethnocultures were also identified. Among the similar criteria, the following were highlighted: understanding the importance of the wife’s role in marriage, the need to fulfil the requirements of the spouses, and suiting each other in different parameters. Chinese sayings about marriage have demonstrated the priority of marriage over career, gender inequality, lack of free choice of partner, the concept of polygamy, the idea of preserving a family at all costs, creating a family for the birth of children, an ironic attitude towards people who did not start a family before the age of 30, substantial parental influence. Therewith, English linguistic culture has demonstrated the idea of monogamy and fidelity to a partner in a relationship, fewer gender stereotypes, self-irony, free choice of a partner, and the need for equality between spouses. The results of this study can become the basis for a comparative examination of English and Chinese cultures with other cultures and the creation of a corpus of proverbs used in modern everyday life.