Proverbs and sayings
Almost every good writer will make use of language idioms, by-phrases and proverbs. As Gorki has it, they are the natural ways in which speech develops.
Proverbs and sayings have certain purely linguistic features which must always be taken into account in order to distinguish them from ordinary sentences. Proverbs are brief statements showing in condensed form, the accumulated life experience of the community and serving as conventional practical symbols for abstract ideas. They are usually didactic and image bearing. Many of them through frequency of repetition have became polished and wrought into verse-like shape, i.e., they have metre, rhyme and alliteration. But the main feature distinguishing proverbs and sayings from ordinary utterances remains their semantic aspect. Their literal meaning is suppressed by what may be termed their transferred meaning. In other words, one meaning (literal) is the form for another meaning (transferred) which contains the idea. Proverbs and sayings are the concentrated wisdom of the people, and if used appropriately, will never lose their freshness and vigour. The most noticeable thing about the functioning of sayings, proverbs and catch-phrases is that they may be handled not in their fixed form (the traditional model) but with modifications.
Quotations
A q и o t a t i o n i s a repetition of a phrase or statement from a book, speech and the like used by way of authority, illustration, proof or as a basis for further speculation on the matter in hand. By repeating a passage in a new environment, we attach to the utterance an importance it might not have had in the context whence it was taken. Moreover, we give it the status, temporary though it may be, of a stable language unit. What is quoted must be worth quoting, since a quotation will inevitably acquire some degree of generalization. If repeated frequently, it may be recognized as an epigram, if, of course, it has at least some of the linguistic properties of the latter.
Quotations are usually marked off in the text by inverted commas (" "), dashes (—), italics or other graphical means.
They are mostly used accompanied by a reference to the author of the quotation, unless he is well known to the reader or audience. The reference is made either in the text or in a foot-note and assumes various forms. A quotation is the exact reproduction of an actual utterance made by a certain author. The work containing the utterance quoted must have been published or at least spoken in public; for quotations are echoes of somebody else's words.
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Utterances, when quoted, undergo a peculiar and subtle change. They are rank and file members of the text they belong to, merging with other sentences in this text in the most natural and organic way, bearing some part of the general sense the text as a whole embodies; yet, when they are quoted, their significance is heightened and they become different from other parts of the text. Once quoted, they are no longer rank-and-file units. A quotation is always set against the other sentences in the text by its greater volume of sense and significance. This singles it out particularly if frequently repeated, as an utterance worth committing to memory generally is. The use of quotations presupposes a good knowledge, of the past experience of the nation, its literature and culture.
Allusions
An a I I и s i o n is an indirect reference, by word or phrase, to a historical, literary, mythological, biblical fact or to a fact of everyday life made in the course of speaking or writing. The use of allusion presupposes knowledge of the fact, thing or person alluded to on the part of the reader or listener. As a rule no indication of the source is given. This is one of the notable differences between quotation and allusion. Another difference is of a structural nature: a quotation must repeat the exact wording of the original even though the meaning may be modified by the new context; an allusion is only a mention of a word or phrase which may be regarded as the key-word of the utterance. An allusion has certain important semantic peculiarities, in that the meaning of the word (the allusion) should be regarded as a form for the new meaning. In other words, the primary meaning of the word or phrase which is assumed to be known (i.e., the allusion) serves as a vessel into which new meaning is poured. So here there is also a kind of interplay between two meanings. The volume of meaning in this allusion goes beyond the actual knowledge of the character's traits. Allusions are based on the accumulated experience and the knowledge of the writer who presupposes a similar experience and knowledge in the reader. But the knowledge stored in our minds is called forth by an allusion in a peculiar manner. All kinds of associations we may not yet have realized cluster round the facts alluded to.
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