Biblical Proverbs and Tamil Proverbs- A Comparison

Abstract

There are more than thousands of languages that are spoken all around the world. Communication through these languages unites individuals in the society. Due to this integration, the human race has discovered various fields and achieved many improvements. There are many elements of prosperity, science, culture and civilization in human life. All these are enhanced by language. Language is a factor in the development of human race. Similarly, the development of the human race is also a factor in the development of language. Hence there is no doubt that human life and language are inextricably intertwined. The development of a language depends largely on the vocabulary it contains. These words belong to various fields related to human life. Therefore, as the human civilization and culture develops, the vocabulary of the language increases. The development of language goes hand in hand with the development of human society. This is the main reason why the languages of the people who are rich in long- term culture, civilization, religious ideas, multi- disciplinary science, etc. are rich in vocabulary. Every feature of language is determined by society. Words are formed according to the needs of a society. Words related to human culture, civilization and arts are many in the language. Apart from this, most importantly, the exchange of ideas resulting from experience is the main reason for the birth of proverbs. For these proverbs the language must be refined and enriched. Such richness is possessed by high individual classical languages. Based on this, the purpose of this article is to compare the Tamil proverbs and the proverbs in the Bible which was written in Hebrew and Greek and translated into Tamil.