Title: Proverbial expressions in newspapers. A study in Estonia, Finland, and Slovenia
Abstract: This article 1 examines proverbs and proverbial expressions in contemporary newspaper contexts and in everyday use in three languages: Estonian, Finnish, and Slovenian.Print editions of the Estonian newspapers Postimees and Tartu Postimees, the Finnish newspapers Helsingin sanomat, salon seudun sanomat, and Perniönseudun Lehti, and the Slovenian newspaper Dnevnik were scanned for use of proverbial material during May 2013.From the reader's point of view, proverbs are understood to be both etic and emic concepts.The article discusses how to recognize contemporary proverbial units in this study in newspaper texts.The quantitative part of the study outlines proverbial expressions among newspaper genres and sections, and the location of proverbial expressions within textual units.The qualitative part of the analysis concerns distinctive national differences (use of proverbial expressions in horoscopes in Estonia, combined with TV programs in Finland and opinion pieces or letters to the editor in Slovenia) and focuses on them in a cultural context.The qualitative study highlights the most essential concentrations of proverbs.The differences are outlined in the sections focusing on country-specific features.