A Study on the Cultuling of “Positive Thinking” in Persian Proverbs1

Proverbs are short utterances in verse or prose, showing parts of the culture of people using them. They will be transmitted to the next generations and their origins can be traced. They can be considered a case of cultuling, that is (culture in language), and demonstrate the culture, worldview and the attitude of the speakers. The present study, a qualitative one, aimed to investigate the “positive thinking” cultuling in Persian proverbs from the viewpoint of the SPEAKING model of Hymes (1967). To this end, of the total 99621 Persian proverbs, 777 proverbs were delineated to include the “Positive Thinking” cultuling. The researchers were seeking to find different ends of using the proverbs by Persian speakers. The data were investigated by two Applied linguists professors and an M.A graduate in Linguistics. The most recurrent ends of using proverbs encompass giving advice 101 cases (30%), good wish 7 cases (2%), religious beliefs 92 cases (27%), encouraging to be patient 27 cases (8%), being grateful 7 cases (2%), being happy 9 cases (3%), showing exaggeration 16 cases (5%) and solidarity and cooperation 13 cases (4%). The keys include admonitory 83 cases (45%), praising 14 cases (8%), hopeful 67 cases (36%), humorous 14 cases (8%) and good wish 7 cases (4%). The findings show that among all, the most occurring end, of using the “positive thinking” cultuling in Persian proverbs accrues giving advice (30%) and the most recurrent key, accrues admonitory (45%). The multiplicity of the cases of advice and admonitory displays the indirectness of Iranians. The paper concludes with some implications.