to learn more about the Proverbs Project
Our Project
The Proverbs Project is an anthropological and sociolinguistic exploration of seven diverse cultures and languages of the world, using proverbs as a tool to gain insight into human nature and behavior.
Proverbs seem to transcend geography, culture and language, proving the indelible link between proverbs and the universality of human behavior regardless of which language one speaks.
Our Mission
To answer a rather novel question: Does the culturally accepted wisdom embedded in a particular Spanish proverb have an equivalent in all of these widely spoken languages?
English / Russian / Chinese / Arabic / Hindi / Swahili
To create a community of collaborators around the world
Click here to register and join the conversation.
How we did it
Step 1: We randomly selected 53 commonly used Spanish proverbs.
For example:
Vístame despacio, tengo prisa / Dress me slowly, I am in a hurry
A perro flaco, todo son pulgas / To a skinny dog, everything is fleas
A la tercera, va la vencida / On the third time goes the winner
Step 2: Then, we searched for and found the equivalent proverbs in all 6 other languages.
English / Russian / Chinese / Arabic / Hindi / Swahili
Step 3: We realized the answer to our mission question was a resounding – Yes!
All 53 Spanish proverbs do have an equivalent expression in the other 6 other languages.
WE CALL THIS – SHARED HUMAN WISDOM
One example of shared human wisdom
#25 Jack of all trades, master of none.
English: Jack of all trades, master of none.
Spanish: Quien mucho abarca, poco aprieta
Hindi: दोनों ओर बैठकर मन्दिर नहीं बन सकता।
Swahili: Kushika kila kitu, hakushiki kitu
Chinese: 博而不精
Russian: За двумя зайцами погонишься, ни одного не поймаешь.
Arabic: من يركض وراء عصفورين يفقدهما
How to navigate the full list of 53 proverbs in 7 different languages?
1. If you click on any language below, for ex. Chinese, you’ll to see the first batch of 16 proverbs in Chinese, which are the Chinese equivalents of the original first 16 Spanish proverbs. To see additional batches up to 53, click on the Load more button.
2. If you click on any of the 53 proverbs, you’ll see the equivalent proverbs in all 7 languages, just like you see in the example above.
So, the list of 53 Chinese proverbs are NOT translations of Spanish nor English proverbs. They are Chinese proverbs that convey the same meaning as the other 6 languages.
You will see a literal English translation below each Chinese proverb on the full list of 53. The same is true for Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Swahili and Hindi.
So, each proverb on the list is displayed like the example above in Shared Human Wisdom, and you are encouraged to make comments on the proverbs.
Click here to learn more about how to collaborate.
Full List of 53 Proverbs in 7 Languages
The Universality Score
The striking conclusion of the Proverbs Project is all of the 53 randomly selected Spanish proverbs have an equivalent in the 6 other languages:
English / Russian / Chinese / Arabic / Hindi / Swahili (Total number of proverbs = 371)
Click here to see: Full List of Proverbs
To measure how close the 7 versions of a proverb are, we have developed a Universality Score.
Let’s use the following example below to explain what we mean by universality.
Proverb #44 expresses people often don’t apply in their personal life things they know or do well.
Spanish: En casa del herrero, cuchillo de palo
Hindi: कबीरा ख़ार-जा, चप्पल छूर.
Swahili: Kinyozi hajinyoi.
Chinese: 卖盐老婆喝淡汤
Russian: Сапожник без сапог.
Arabic: الإسكافي حافي وباب النَجَّار مَخْلوع
Shared Wisdom: Familiarity breeds complacency.
Percentage represents common usage of key words
Professions, several - 100% coincidence (7 of 7 languages)
Shoemaker - 43% coincidence (3 of 7 languages)
UNIVERSAL PROVERB = 100% use of a key word
One will notice that every proverb uses a profession to describe this quirky human behavior.
The Universality Score is shown in the lower right hand oval.
100% coincidence in the use of professions (blacksmith / shoemaker / street vendor / barber / weaver)
43% coincidence in shoemaker (Spanish / Russian / Hindi)
You can search by categories: professions, animals, natural phenomena and / or body parts that are prevalent in the 371 proverbs.
What we want to do
To create a community of collaborators around the world to explore the anthro-linguistic
significance of proverbs and how they reflect the shared human wisdom of billions of people around the globe!
Learn more about how the multiple ways you can collaborate and contribute to the Proverbs Project