Structural and semantic features and national specificity of English and Russian proverbs with the meaning "foresight", "caution".

Orlova Tatiana ORCID: 0000-0002-2777-3930 PhD in Philology Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba 117198, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6 rudn1964fev@yandex.ru

One of the priorities of modern linguistic research is the study of the relationship between thinking, language and culture, as well as ways of reflecting reality characteristic of a particular people – all this is important for successful intercultural communication. The peculiarities of mentality (or national character) determine "a person's behavior, his actions and attitude towards other people, form linguistic and cultural constants that manifest themselves with a special originality in phraseological units" ^{[1, p.15]}. From this point of view, the interest of researchers in the phraseology of the language of the studied people is certainly justified, since phraseology "primarily reflects the everyday empirical, historical and cultural experience of the language collective associated with its cultural traditions" ^{[2, p. 32]}. The study of proverbs from this point of view turns out to be the most fruitful, since proverbs, according to the well-known definition of V. Meader, are "short, well-known folk sayings that contain wisdom, truth, morality and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorable form and which are passed down from generation to generation" ^{[3, p.11]}. As A. Degener rightly points out, the status of culturally transmitted and formalized figurative statements qualifies proverbs as indicators of values and habits prevailing in these societies ^{[4, p.1]}. In addition, despite belonging to the oldest fund of the phraseological system of the language, proverbs, according to sociolinguistic studies, "continue to be very relevant components of the living discourse" ^{[5, p.11]}, which also indicates the relevance of the appeal to the proverbial fund.

An important property of the proverb is imagery, expressiveness, evaluativeness, which arises due to the metaphorical reinterpretation of its components. According to its structure, the proverb is a complete sentence, and according to semantics, it is an integral semantic unity containing generalized information: teaching, judgment, evaluation. "Proverbs are undoubtedly works of verbal art, i.e. they have aesthetic value" ^{[6, p. 119]}. The proverbs include specific familiar images, which in the process of use and reinterpretation acquire a deep generalization. "In ethno–cultural metaphors, there is an idea of a person, about his life and experiences, relationships - everything that determines the ethno-cultural existence of a people, its mentality." ^{[7, p.21]}.

The subject of our research is a comparative structural and semantic analysis of proverbs of English and Russian with the meaning of "foresight", "caution". A comparative study of proverbs, their phraseological meaning, internal form, figurative meaning and expressive means made it possible to discover the national specifics of the thinking of the two peoples. The object of the study is the proverbs of the English and Russian languages of this thematic group. The semantic polyphony of proverbs, due to the complexity of their cognitive structure, creates many reasons for combining them into thematic groups, so the choice of a specific basis depends primarily on the research task ^{[8, p.25]}. The source of empirical material was dictionaries of English and Russian proverbs ^[9-13], the selection was carried out by a continuous sampling method. In accordance with our tasks, we used descriptive and comparative methods, functional and stylistic analysis, structural and syntactic analysis, but the aspects of analysis are closely interrelated, as P. Grzybek pointed out, noting the close relationship of pragmatic, syntactic and semantic aspects and their free fusion ^{[14, p.75]}. In combination with a comparative approach, the analysis creates a more voluminous picture of the national and cultural identity of proverbs.

1. During the analysis, we identified several groups of proverbs with the meaning of "foresight". The first group includes proverbs that reveal the meaning of "foresight, which manifests itself as slowness and thoroughness in any matter." Here are examples: Haste makes waste (Haste leads to loss); More haste, less speed (More haste, less speed); The slower you go, the farther you get (The slower you move, the further you get); The quiter you go, the further you'll be (The calmer you are moving, the faster you get there); Hasty climbers have sudden falls (Hasty climbers have sudden falls); The furthest way about is the nearest way home (The longest roundabout road is the shortest way home); Slow and steady (sure) wins the race (The one who acts slowly and constantly (confidently), wins the race); A fool's haste is no speed (A fool's haste leads to zero speed). We will also give Russian correspondences: Hurry up slowly; Hurry up, you will make people laugh; You drive more quietly, you will go further.

English proverbs, which say that excessive haste in any business leads to losses, are much more widely represented than the Russians. Synonymous proverbs in English are More haste, less speed (More haste, less speed), The slower you go, the farther you get (The slower you move, the farther you get), The quiter you go, the further you'll be (The calmer you move, the faster you'll get) The furthest way about is the nearest way home (The longest roundabout road is the shortest way home). Interestingly, they are all built on different types of comparative turns: the first is based on comparative turns, which are based on antonymic forms of comparative degree (more (haste) – less (speed)), the next two are based on expressive comparative turns (the slower – the farther, the quiter – the further). The last proverb also contains an expressive comparative turn (the furthest way – the nearest way), but it opposes the superlative of adjectives (superlative). These proverbs correspond to the Russian proverb, You go Quieter, you will go further, which coincides with the English in meaning, as well as in its syntactic structure: it also contains a comparative turn with lexical antonymy (you drive more quietly – you will continue).  Another Russian proverb, Hurry slowly, which contains a recommendation, adjoins the same semantic group. It is laconic, built on an oxymoron (a witty juxtaposition of contradictory concepts) and uses an archaic verb form (hurry up).

Interestingly, the English and Russian proverbs cited contain a juxtaposition of contradictory concepts. This shows the universality of human experience, which does not depend on the mentalities of different peoples.

Very close to these proverbs is the English proverb Slow and steady (sure) wins the race (The one who acts slowly and constantly (confidently) wins the race), which expresses a similar meaning, but differs in its syntactic structure and lexical content, has a transparent internal form. This proverb has a more complex phraseological meaning: "a quick and assertive start to work can cause problems, a slower and more balanced approach leads to better results." The second part of the proverb, wins the race, points to the realities of life, characteristic of the English, but not found in Russian proverbs of similar meaning. Perhaps here we see indications of traditional folk entertainment among the British, including races that were not popular in Russian folk entertainment.

The following two proverbs, the English A fool's haste is no speed (A fool's haste leads to zero speed) and the Russian Hurry – you make people laugh, converge in their negative reaction to haste. In the Russian proverb, emotivity arises due to pejorative evaluation (you make people laugh), and in the English proverb – due to the colloquial form of the noun (a fool's haste – a fool's haste).

The English proverb Hasty climbers have sudden falls has a unique figurative meaning (hasty climbers have sudden falls). Here we see an interesting figurative motivation: the meaning of the uselessness of haste is transmitted through the concrete actions of people-climbers. The expressiveness of another very popular English proverb of this semantic group Haste makes waste (Haste leads to loss) arises due to the capacity of meaning and conciseness of linguistic means (compression), as well as rhyming endings.

Most of the proverbs of this group, as we can see, are very expressive.

2. The proverbs of the second group selected by us express the meaning of "foresight, which manifests itself as the need to store up, to have something in reserve." Here are examples: What's in the pocket just in case never seems to take up place (What's in your pocket just in case never seems to take up space); Keep something for a rainy day (Save something for a rainy day); Plenty is no plague (A lot is not disaster); Store is no sore (Stock is not a sore). We will also give Russian correspondences: The stock of the pocket does not rub; The stock is not a burden, it will not pull your hands; You go for a day, take bread for a week.

The English proverb What's in the pocket just in case never seems to take up place (What lies in the pocket just in case, it seems, never takes up space) and the Russian proverb The pocket stock does not rub are related by the fact that the semantic core of both proverbs is the lexeme "pocket", while the English proverb represents It is a complex, rhythmically organized sentence with rhyming endings. A Russian proverb conveys a similar meaning "storing a stock will not hurt" more succinctly. Due to the collision and interaction of the abstract word stock and the concrete pocket, additional expression arises, and the verb rubs gives the proverb a colloquial tone. In the Russian proverb, a stock is not a burden, it will not delay hands, we see the opposition of the generalized word stock (stock is the amount of something harvested for the future) to a more specific word burden (a load carried on itself). Colloquial coloring is given to it by the clarifying phrase "hands will not delay", which is colloquial in nature. An interesting Russian proverb is You go for a day, take bread for a week, expressing the meaning of "take food on the road with a reserve in case of unforeseen circumstances." By the nature of the judgment, this is a recommendation, a prescription, and by the syntactic structure it is an unconnected compound sentence with a subordinate conditional, which is expressed in a generalized personal sentence. It contains a specific word bread, which characterizes the main food of a Russian person, who, according to A.V. Sergeeva's fair remark, traditionally has great respect for bread ^{[15, p. 65]}. Here we see the reception of hyperbole and juxtaposition (day – week). The English proverb Keep something for a rainy day (Postpone something for a rainy day), expressing the meaning of "make reserves in case of a hard time" by the nature of the judgment is a recommendation expressed in the form of an imperative sentence. In it, we see the use of the expression rainy day (rainy day) in the meaning of "difficult, difficult times", which is associated with the climatic conditions of England, where it rains often, and difficult times are associated with bad weather. The other two English proverbs Plenty is no plague (A lot is not a disaster) and Store is no sore (Stock is not a sore) are close in meaning and the same in syntactic structure – these are simple non–common nominal sentences. Both proverbs express the meaning of "stock is good" through negation (no plague is not a disaster, no sore is not a sore), and in the first of them "stock" is implied implicitly, through the use of the adverb plenty. Both proverbs are concise and use evaluative words that have a negative connotation (plague – disaster, sore – sore), due to which expression occurs. In the second proverb, we also see rhyming endings that contribute to faster memorization.

3. The third group contains proverbs expressing the meaning of "foresight, which manifests itself as the need to carefully consider your actions before making a decision." Here are examples: When in doubt do nowt (When in doubt – do nothing); Measure thrice and cut once (Measure three times and cut once); Score twice before you cut once (Calculate twice before you cut once); Measure thy cloth ten times, though you can cut it but once (Measure your fabric ten times, since you can only cut it once); Draw not your bow till your arrow is fixed (Don't pull your bow until your arrow is fixed); Look before you leap (Look before you jump); Think before you act (Think before, than to act). We will also give Russian correspondences: Measure seven times, and cut once.

We see that the English proverbs of this group are much more widely represented. The proverbs Look before you leap (Look before you jump) and Think before you act (Think before you act), expressing the general meaning of "before you act, stop and evaluate the future action" are the same in syntactic structure and are quite expressive due to their conciseness. The proverb Look before you leap uses a more specific verb leap (to jump) compared to the more abstract verb act (to act), which is used in the second proverb, which certainly gives it more expressiveness. The English proverb When in doubt do nowt (When in doubt, do nothing) is a simple recommendation, there is no figurative meaning in it, however, the use of the archaic form of the word nowt (nothing – nothing) indicates an older origin, and conciseness in the form of syntactic compression (ellipsis) ^{[16, p. 801]} and rhyming endings they contribute to faster memorization.

The most interesting is the unique figurative meaning of the English proverb Draw not your bow till your arrow is fixed (Do not pull your bow until your arrow is fixed). In it, a similar meaning "before you act, make sure that all the necessary preparations are made" is expressed using a compound sentence with a subordinate tense (draw not ... till ...), while the proverb contains a linguistic and cultural connotation. It reflects the realities of the life of medieval Englishmen who fought and hunted animals with a bow and arrow. A characteristic feature of the other English and Russian proverbs of this group is the juxtaposition of adverbs of frequency formed from numerals (twice – once, thrice – once, ten times – once, seven times – one), which creates their special expressiveness. According to the conclusion of Alekseeva T.E., many English proverbs are based on the stylistic reception of the antithesis, when one is opposed to the words two, hundred and other numerals ^{[17, p. 13]}. This group of proverbs confirms the noted pattern. All these proverbs have a similar syntactic structure, are very close in figurative meaning and figurative motivation, their semantic core is the juxtaposition of the verbs measure /score (measure /calculate) – cut (cut). The proverb Measure thy cloth ten times, though canst cut it but once (Measure your cloth ten times, since you can only cut it once) differs from the rest by using the specific word cloth, so that it presents a more visual picture. Also, this proverb is distinguished by archaic grammatical forms of pronouns (thy – yours, thow – you) and modal verb (canst – can), which indicates its more ancient origin.

4. The fourth group of proverbs expresses the meaning of "foresight, which manifests itself as the need to calculate the situation for the future." Here are examples: The mouse that has but one hole is quickly taken (The mouse that has only one hole is easily caught); Prevention is better than cure (Prevention is better than cure); Although the sun shine, leave not thy cloak at home (Although the sun shines, do not leave your cloak at home); It is good to have a cloak for the rain (It's good to have a raincoat in case of rain); Do not put all your eggs in one basket (Do not put all your eggs in one basket); Better safe than sorry (It's better to be safe than sorry); Prudence looks before as well as behind (Prudence looks both forward and backward). We also give Russian correspondences:  A warning is better than a cure; Prepare a sleigh in summer, and a cart in winter; Keep yourself from troubles while they are not there yet; If you knew where to fall, then straws would fall.

In this group, the most interesting English proverb is The mouse that has but one hole is quickly taken (It is easy to come across the mouse that has only one hole). Here the image of a mouse is used as an allegorical reflection of the behavior of an inconsiderate person. With the help of the "Aesopian language", this proverb says that a prudent person always needs a backup option, while it is implied that such foresight can prolong life. In the other two English proverbs, Although the sun shine, leave not thy cloak at home (Although the sun is shining, do not leave your cloak at home) and It is good to have a cloak for the rain (It is good to have a cloak in case of rain), the semantic core is the word cloak. The first proverb is a compound sentence with the meaning of a concession, the second part is an imperative sentence. The second proverb is a simple statement of fact, a teaching expressed in the form of an impersonal sentence. The expressiveness of both proverbs is given by the mention of weather phenomena (sun shine – the sun shines, rain - rain), i.e. the connection with the weather, climatic conditions, which are unpredictable in England. The Russian proverb Prepare a sleigh in summer, and a cart in winter also contains a recommendation regarding actions at a specific time of the year. According to the syntactic structure, it is a compound sentence consisting of two incentive sentences with the omission of the predicate in the second sentence. Expressiveness is achieved due to the opposition expressed by lexical antonymy (summer – winter), as well as the use of vocabulary associated with peasant life (sleigh, cart). Unique in the shade of figurative meaning is the English proverb Do not put all your eggs in one basket (Do not put all your eggs in one basket), which is also a teaching in the form of an incentive sentence. The generalized meaning of "it is necessary to calculate your actions for the future" is transmitted here due to specific actions related to peasant life. The semantic center of the Russian proverb Keep yourself from troubles while they are not yet there is the evaluative word trouble, which indicates hard peasant labor. The English proverb Better safe than sorry (It's better to be safe than sorry later) is very concise and expressive due to syntactic compression, which allows you to focus on adjectives. It is based on comparative turnover. The Russian proverb If you knew where to fall, so straws would fall in form is a compound sentence of a conditional type with an archaic union if it contains a word with a diminutive suffix (straw) and an archaic verb in the form of an infinitive (to fall), which gives it a colloquial character. The proverb reflects the realities of peasant life. Despite the fact that the English proverb Prudence looks before as well as behind (Prudence looks both forward and backward) in form is an aphorism, a teaching, it is quite expressive thanks to the personifying metaphor, which represents the humanization of abstract concepts. This proverb also uses the lexical antonymy before – behind (forward – backward).

5. Another group consists of proverbs expressing the meaning of "foresight, which manifests itself as the need to rely primarily on oneself." Here are examples: God helps those who help themselves (God helps those who help themselves); God takes care of those who take care of themselves (God takes care of those who take care of themselves); God is God, and don't be bad yourself; Hope for God, and don't be bad yourself; God takes care of the safe.

Two English proverbs of this group are almost identical in meaning, but use different verbs, takes care (cares) and helps (helps). Russian Russian proverbs are very close in phraseological meaning to English proverbs, but Russian proverbs are more expressive. According to the syntactic structure, they are incentive sentences. The first proverb God is God, and don't be bad yourself is built on the antithesis (God is himself), it uses the colloquial conjunction yes in the opposite meaning. Its expressiveness is achieved due to the incompleteness of the first sentence as part of a compound sentence, the repetition of the word god and due to rhyming endings (bad – god). All this gives the proverb a colloquial coloring. The colloquial coloring of another Russian proverb is to hope for God, and do not flatten yourself is given by the archaic form "do not flatten" ("flatten" in the sense of making a mistake, a mistake). It is interesting here that the completely identical meanings of proverbs in Russian and English are expressed by different linguistic means inherent in different languages. Another proverb of the Protected God protects is a saying. It is not very imaginative, but due to the reception of the tautology of two grammatical forms, the participle and the verb (take care – takes care), it has expressiveness.

6. The next group includes proverbs that give a general assessment of caution as a positive quality. These proverbs realize the meaning of "a prudent person should exercise caution." Here are some examples: One cannot be too careful; There is safety in numbers; Discretion is the better part of valour; Caution is the parent of safety. We will also give Russian correspondences: Caution is the mother of safety; A careful horse and an animal does not take; A kind hen sees grain with one eye, and a kite with the other; firmness is needed on sad days, caution is needed on joyful days.

The English and Russian proverbs Caution is the parent of safety (Caution is the parent of safety) and Caution is the mother of safety are very close in figurative meaning, but have different lexical content. These two structurally identical proverbs are based on nominal sentences. As for the discrepancy in meaning, in Russian caution is correlated with mother, and in English – caution correlates with parent (parent) – a gender-indefinite generalizing word. Russian Russian and English proverbs Saydasheva E.A. and Nurgalieva L.A. researchers of the gender sign of femininity in their work show a greater role and reverence for the mother in Russian culture compared to English ^{[18, p. 149]}. In the English proverb Discretion is the better part of valour (Caution is the best part of valour) there is a new shade of meaning: "caution, prudence is an integral part of valour, and valor is inextricably linked with military affairs." This proverb has an ancient origin, dating back to the Middle Ages, when the British fought a lot. A similar meaning with an additional shade of "caution is necessary even in everyday circumstances" has a Russian original proverb A kind hen sees a grain with one eye and a kite with the other. This proverb is unique in its figurative motivation and is associated with peasant life. It conveys the generalized meaning in a visual form due to allegory, description of animal habits, where a domestic peaceful bird (hen) is contrasted with a wild and aggressive bird (kite). The expression of this proverb is created by lexical juxtaposition (with one eye – with the other), an ellipsis in the second part of the proverb. The word "kind" is used in the archaic meaning of "good". All this gives the proverb a folk-colloquial sound. The English proverb There is safety in numbers (Safety - in large numbers) has a Russian analogue of the Consonant herd and the wolf does not take, these proverbs associate safety with collectivism, expressing the meaning "the collective effectively resists danger". In English, this is said almost directly, and in Russian – allegorically, through the comparison of the collective with the herd, and danger with the wolf. In an earlier study, we noted that proverbs that draw attention to unification and mutual assistance as a characteristic feature of human community are widely represented in both languages ^{[19, p.307]}, however, for this study we chose proverbs that tell about collectivism directly in the context of security. Another Russian proverb Needs firmness on sorrowful days, caution shifts the emphasis to another plane on joyful days: the proverb warns of the need to remain vigilant not only in a difficult and dangerous situation, but also in a calm and favorable one. This Russian proverb is quite aphoristic, has a bookish character, uses abstract vocabulary. It is based on the antithesis technique based on lexical antonymy (sorrowful days – joyful days) and contextual antonymy (firmness – caution). Caution is used here in the context of contrasting the sorrowful days. The word sorrowful has a pejorative value and testifies to the plight of the Russian peasantry.

7. The next group contains proverbs that also talk about foresight in the form of caution. Proverbs with this meaning are more specific and express the meaning "do not provoke conflict situations if they can be avoided." Here are examples: Don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you (Don't cause trouble until trouble bothers you); Let sleeping dogs lie (Let sleeping dogs lie). We will also give Russian correspondences: Do not wake up famously while it is quiet; Do not get into trouble; Do not tease the dog, it will not bite; Do not look for adventures on your head.

The English proverb Don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you (Don't cause trouble until trouble bothers you) and the Russian proverb Don't wake up famously while it's quiet are identical in meaning and figurative motivation, but differ in language means and expressiveness techniques. Both English and Russian proverbs are built on an impersonating metaphor that defines the abstract concepts of trouble (trouble) and famously (meaning "evil") by combining with the concrete verbs trouble (to disturb) and wake, respectively. In the English proverb, an expressive technique is tautology, the playing of noun and verb forms, which is a consequence of conversion (a linguistic phenomenon when the same word can act as a noun and as a verb). The expressiveness of the Russian proverb is enhanced by conciseness, the use of the outdated colloquial word famously and rhyming words (famously – quietly). Also close in phraseological and figurative meaning are the following pair of proverbs, the English Let sleeping dogs lie (Let sleeping dogs lie) and the Russian Don't tease the dog, it won't bite. The semantic core in both proverbs is the zoonym "dog", but the lexical content of these proverbs is different: the English proverb contains the participle sleeping and the verb lie, the Russian verbs do not tease, do not bite. In both proverbs, the main method of expressiveness is the use of the zoonyms dogs / dog. A similar meaning is expressed by another Russian proverb, Do not look for adventures on your head, in which adventure in the meaning of "risky enterprise" has a negative connotation. The expressiveness of this proverb is given by the method of metonymy using the somatism of the head. In modern Russian, this proverb has acquired a more crude and ironic form due to the substitution of somatism. In the Russian proverb, don't get into trouble, we see the outdated colloquial word "trouble" in the meaning of "stake", which gives the proverb a rough colloquial tone. The proverb, despite the use of an outdated word, is actively used in modern Russian speech.

8. Consider the following group of proverbs, in which foresight is also manifested more specifically. These proverbs express the meaning "it is necessary to take into account the harmful consequences of one's unreasonable actions." Here are examples: Don't cut the bough you are standing on (Don't cut the bough you're standing on); Don't make a rod for your own back (Don't make a rod for your back); Don't rock the boat (Don't rock the boat); Don't bite the hand that feeds you (Don't bite the hand that feeds you). They correspond to Russian proverbs: Do not cut the branch on which you are sitting; You cut down a club on your back.

The English proverb Don't cut the bitch you are standing on (Don't cut the bitch you are standing on) and the Russian proverb Don't cut the bitch you are sitting on are structurally identical and express a similar meaning of "don't harm yourself with your actions." Both proverbs are compound sentences with a subordinate determinative that define the word "bitch", the difference concerns small lexical discrepancies: stand (standing) – sitting. The English proverb Don't bite the hand that feeds you (Don't bite the hand that feeds you) is an aphorism and a deep observation, and in its syntactic structure is similar to the previous proverbs. The English proverb Don't make a rod for your own back and the Russian Cut down a club on your back have a similar meaning "don't create problems for yourself", which are similar in figurative meaning and vocabulary used. Both proverbs use the somatism "spin", but they differ in their syntactic structure. The English proverb is expressed by a sentence in the form of an imperative, whereas the Russian proverb is an affirmative sentence in the past tense, which gives it greater expressiveness. The use of the colloquial word dubina, which has an evaluative connotative meaning, as well as the use of rhyming words (dubina – back) gives great expression to the Russian proverb.

9. Consider the last group of proverbs that contain a warning about a specific danger that can be avoided. Here are examples of English proverbs: Beware of a silent dog and still water (Beware of a silent dog and standing water); Beware of a silent man and a dog that does not bark (Beware of a silent man and a dog that does not bark); Take heed of the snake in the grass (Beware of a snake in the grass); Don't play with fire (Don't play with fire). We will also give Russian correspondences: Do not be afraid of the dog that barks, but be afraid of the one that is silent and wagging its tail; Devils are found in a quiet pool; Quiet, but lih; Do not warm the snake on your chest; Do not play with fire.

Two proverbs of this group, the English Don't play with fire (Don't play with fire) and the Russian Don't play with fire are full equivalents. Both proverbs are presented in the form of brief teachings expressing the meaning of "do not take a potentially dangerous situation lightly." The English proverb Take heed of the snake in the grass (Beware of snakes in the grass) and the Russian proverb Do not warm the snake on your chest express the meaning "it is necessary to be wary of treacherous and treacherous people." These proverbs are united by the common lexeme "snake", which in both languages "implies an insidious, cunning and/or evil person" ^{[20, p.146]}. The English proverb is an observation expressed in the form of a recommendation, and goes back to the Latin saying Latet anguis in herba – A snake lurks in the grass. The expressiveness of the Russian proverb is enhanced by greater concretization, the use of somatism on the chest, when warming a (cold) snake on the chest means "to bring closer to yourself, to trust a treacherous person." The rest of the proverbs of this group express the general meaning "it is necessary to be wary of threats from quiet, seemingly harmless sources." Images of silent dog /dog that does not bark (a quiet dog /dog that does not bark), silent man (a silent man), still water (standing water) in English proverbs and the image of a dog that is silent and wagging its tail and a quiet pool in Russian proverbs represent danger from a harmless-looking source. The English proverb Beware of a silent dog and still water (Beware of a silent dog and standing water) is expressive due to the convergence of the phenomena of living (silent dog) and inanimate (still water) nature, expressed by homogeneous members of the sentence. The Russian proverb Do not be afraid of a dog that barks, but be afraid of one that is silent and wagging its tail is more expressive due to the means of colloquial syntax, rhyme, as well as due to greater concretization: a dog that inspires confidence is more clearly represented by indicating specific habits (wagging its tail). Another Russian proverb is Quiet, but lih expresses the close meaning of "a quiet person can be evil" in a very concise form. It consists of two one-part, non-extended, incomplete sentences consisting of the same predicates. It uses the forms of short adjectives as lexical antonyms. The word likh is used in the archaic meaning of "evil". Rhyming endings quiet – lih enhance the expressiveness of the proverb and contribute to its memorization.

In the course of our structural and semantic analysis, the following meanings of English and Russian proverbs associated with foresight and caution were identified.  We have analyzed proverbs that tell about the need to act slowly and thoroughly: about the need to make reserves in order to survive a difficult time; about the need to carefully consider actions before making decisions and calculating the situation for the future, about the need to rely primarily on your own strength; about the need to be careful in general, about the need not to provoke conflict situations, which it is possible to avoid; about the need to take into account the harmful consequences of unreasonable actions and, finally, about specific situations in which it is necessary to beware of danger. The commonality of the basic meanings of proverbs, however, allows for differences, as well as the uniqueness of individual meanings. Both Russian and English proverbs of this group contain linguistic and cultural connotations associated with the peculiarities of climatic conditions, working conditions, everyday life, peasant life. Russian Russian proverb says that we have noted the presence of a specific meaning of "you need to take bread with a reserve on the road", which confirms the special role of bread in Russian culture. Difficult times, for which stocks are made, are metaphorically interpreted in Russian as a "rainy day", and in English as a "rainy day", which indicates the peculiarities of the climate in England. The correlation of the word "caution" with the image of the mother in Russian and with the more neutral generalizing image of the parent in the English proverb is interesting. This indicates a closer connection of the Russian man with his mother.

During the analysis, it was revealed that English and Russian proverbs are very similar not only in meaning, but also in the use of the same type of syntactic structures and expressive means. The syntactic structure of English and Russian proverbs is very diverse: they are represented by different types of sentences from complex sentences with subordinate clauses of different types (subordinate clauses, concessions, conditional and determinative subordinate clauses) and compound sentences to simple non-extended incomplete sentences. Very often there are incentive proposals, as proverbs convey parting words, advice. Proverbs use such means of expressive syntax as parallelism, repetitions, expressive comparative turns, syntactic compression (ellipsis, non-union, contraction, compression, incomplete sentences). The most common methods of expressiveness are antithesis (opposition), comparison, in the proverbs of both languages there is an oxymoron, tautology, allegory, metaphor, including the personifying metaphor, is often used. We have identified a pattern: in each of the presented thematic groups of proverbs there are proverbs that are close in meaning, which are not equivalents, which use both the same syntactic structures and the same expressiveness techniques, while differing in their lexical content. The similarities are connected with the universality of human thinking, the similarity of figurative and associative connections, while the differences are due to the peculiarities of everyday life, traditions, and climatic conditions. As for vocabulary, both English and Russian proverbs use evaluative vocabulary, more often with a negative evaluative coloring (sore, fool, plague, trouble, sorrowful, cudgel). It should be emphasized that in the Russian language the vocabulary is more expressive and emotional due to the use of words with diminutive suffixes (straw), the use of colloquial, sometimes rude (for trouble), as well as more specific and visual vocabulary. In this thematic group, even among English proverbs, there are significantly fewer proverbs-aphorisms and more proverbs that came out of the folk environment, where household vocabulary and vocabulary related to peasant life are presented (eggs, basket, bow, arrow, cloth, boat, pocket, rod, sleigh, cart, wolf, herd, hen, kite), as well as more allegorical proverbs using zoonyms (dog, snake, dog, snake, wolf, herd, kite, hen, horse, beast), there are archaisms (nowt, canst, thou, thy, if, fall), which indicates a more ancient origin of these proverbs containing covenants ancestors. In English proverbs, vocabulary related to weather conditions is much more often used (sun shine, rain, rainy day), and in Russian proverbs somatisms are more often used (back, back, head, chest).

Despite the fact that the general part of the meanings, as well as the syntactic structures used, lexical components and means of expression in the proverbs of both languages are quite close, the differences indicate a peculiar specificity of thinking reflecting national characteristics rooted in the history, culture and living conditions of these peoples.