Conclusions
As we see in this table, the most productive semantic group in the Russian language is friendship connected with material conditions (as, for instance in the proverb: "He who has a full purse never lacks a friend;" "Ne imey sto rubley, a imey sto druzey"). Thus, we may assume that the Russians give much attention to material conditions, which they do not forget even when making friends. This can be explained either by a low economic level in social life or, to the contrary, by a satisfied material state in the nation, which is less possible. These results problably reflect those difficult days of the Russian nation in economic crises, which is very characteristic of Russia. It is possible to suppose that the question of choice between friends and money has always existed and exists nowadays.
The most productive semantic group in the English language is friendship connected with inter-relationships, and this is not surprising insofar as friendship itself is built on the relations of two different persons, their mutual understanding and support (as expressed also in Russian, as this one for instance: "Admonish your friend in private, praise in public;" "Drugu druji, a drugomu ne grubi"). That is why, from our point of view, the predominance of this semantic group is logical.
In the Russian language, the semantic group connected with inter-relationships is in second place. The next more productive semantic groups in Russian are:
- friendship: misfortune
("In need one sees who his friend is;" "Drug poznaetsya na znati, da pri bede.")
- friendship: self-sacrifice
("When a friend asks, there is no tomorrow;" "Dlya druga net kruga.")
- friendship: prosperity
("A real friend is one who is beside you, not only holidays, but even in misfortune;" "Byil ya u druga, pil ya vodu slashche medu.")
The latter understanding is very popular among the people and is reflected in numerous proverbs of the nation. A real friend will sacrifice for a friend without any hesitation if it is necessary and is ready to go through judgments even if it is difficult for him.
The next productive semantic groups in English language are:
- friendship: misfortune and friendship: self-sacrifice, just as in the Russian language,
- and also, friendship: separation
("The best of friends must part").
This begins to show a difference in mentality between the English and the Russians. Making friends, they evidently hold some borders between themselves at once. They appear to be completely sure that a distance between friends is the best way of keeping long and strong friendships ("A hedge between keeps friendship green"). The same notion can be observed in the Russian language, but it is not so vividly expressed as in the English language.
We should note a very important fact that we do not observe the following semantic groups in the English language:
- friendship: support
- friendship: ecology
- friendship: unity
Thus, we draw the conclusion that the English notion of friendship is very different from the Russian. Englishmen evidently do not connect friendship with the unity of souls and their friendship is more neutral, if we can say so, than that of Russians.
Making our comparative analysis of the semantics of proverbs and idioms of the Russian and English languages, we exposed the coincidences (partial, full), equivalents, and non-equivalents in each semantic group. Thus, full coincidence, for example:
Friends are thieves of time.
Druz'ya pohititeli vremeni.
Partial coincidence, for example:
Before you make a friend eat a bushel of salt with him.
Nado pud coli vmeste s'est', chtobyi druga uznat.'
Equivalents, for example:
Friendship laughs at distance.
For a friend like you, there's nothing I won't do.
When a friend asks there is no tomorrow.
Between friends, all is common.
Dlya milogo drujka i cemi verst ne okolitsa.
Dlya milogo drujka i serejka iz ushka.
Dlya druga net kruga.
Dlya druga vse ne tugo.
Dlya druga i post prazreshaetsya.
Proverbs and idioms without equivalents, for example:
In Russian:
Drujit'cya drujis', a noj za pazuhoy derji.
In English:
A friend to everyone is a friend to no-one.
The majority of proverbs and idioms of both the Russian and the English languages are equivalents in their semantics. This fact shows common elements that are inherent in the proverbs of the two languages. The resemblances may be explained by the presence of analogical conditions in the social developments of the two nations. Even very different nations have some common notions, resemblance of which is connected to the objective conditions of human life.
According to the analysis of proverbs without equivalents in the Russian language, we come to the conclusion that the Russian nation has a notion about the friend-enemy, combined in one person, which is an unfamiliar thing for Englishmen, but, at the same time, we observe that Russians have a sense of strong friendship that "cannot be broken by an axe". This fact indicates that Russian people are more open, sincere in their feelings. If they make friends, Russians trust them completely, which evidently cannot be said about Englishmen. The Englishmen evidently keep their friends at a distance, not showing their feelings and emotions, preferring to remain in neutral positions.
Observing the proverbs that have no equivalents, we furthermore come to the conclusion that Englishmen prefer not to have a lot friends as Russians do, enjoying one or two friends instead. This indicates a comparatively reticent, unsociable character.
Thus, we can observe the worldview of a given nation through its language and can draw some conclusions. We took proverbs and idioms for our investigations, because there is nothing else that can show so clearly the mentality of a nation, as in proverbs especially we find the wisdom of the nation, its thoughts and advice. I admit that someone might not agree with this point of view, but it is a fact in my opinion, the results of an investigation into the language of a nation.
Citation Guidelines
Petrova, Njurgujana, "The Concept of Friendship as Represented in the Russian and English Languages", page 3, Cross-Cultural Communication: International Communication, Proceedings of the Mirny Regional Scientific-Practical Conference on Inter-Cultural Communication: Issues of Politics, History, Language and Literature (27-28 April 2002), Mirny Polytechnic Institute and Sakha (Yakutsk) State University, edited by S.A. Mousalimas, 2002, available at http://www.OxfordU.net/mirny_international-2002/students/petrova03.html.