Argumentative Strukturen in Sprichwörtern

The use of proverbs in argumentative speech is often regarded today as mere cliché. Nevertheless, the proverb vocabulary of a language community reflects central argumentative thought structures that find application in everyday language use and are indispensable. But which argumentative patterns can actually be found in German proverbs? And which of these play a predominant role? This work analyzes the argumentative structures of 319 German proverbs and provides a well-founded representation of the represented argumentative patterns. Based on these analyses, the critical approach to proverbial argumentation is also tested using real examples of usage. Additionally, the important question of the relationship between argumentative structure and the pragmatic function of proverbs is explored through examples from newspaper texts.