Patrimonio culturale immateriale: un’indagine tra oralità, linguistica e contrastività (francese-italiano)

In this paper, proverbs will be analyzed through the lens of intangible cultural heritage (UNESCO, Paris Convention 2003) and from a linguistic perspective. Linguistics is indeed able to provide more answers on the nature of proverbs and explain certain recurrent behaviors in their oral enunciation. Moreover, the comparison between proverbs in different languages (in our case, French and Italian) helps to approach the study of proverbs with greater objectivity. Linguistic data indicate the presence of a ‘paremiological effort’ related to the evocation and enunciation of proverb, but also a certain creativity in the paremiological sphere that can be interpreted in terms of reuse and recycling of older formulas. Dictionaries of proverbs do not always pay attention to the use of proverbs, but two experiences (one Italian and the other French) at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries indicate that it is possible to create resources more in line with current usage.