English and Russian proverbs about fate, predestination and human responsibility for one’s destiny in terms of their meanings, structural and semantic characteristics, figurative structure, expressiveness and cultural identity

The article deals with the analysis of English and Russian proverbs about fate, predestination and responsibility of a person for his fate, their meanings and structural and semantic characteristics in order to identify the features that characterize the cultural identity of both peoples. The main meanings of proverbs were identified and analyzed, which reveal the point of view of both peoples on predestination in the context of fate, on fatalism and unpredictability of events, on predestination in matters of marriage, as well as on the responsibility of a person for his fate and the dependence of fate on the efforts of the person himself. The analysis revealed the structural and semantic characteristics, as well as the expressive means peculiar to the proverbs of both peoples. The expressiveness of Russian proverbs is primarily achieved through the means of expressive syntax: generalized personal sentences, infinitive sentences and their repetitions, asyndeton, ellipsis, as well as through the use of rhymed endings. In English proverbs, there are more extended sentences, more syndetic sentences, although there are also laconic sentences, with inversions, and asyndeton sentences. Their expressiveness is achieved primarily through content and figurative means: opposition, comparison, irony, repetition, although these methods of expressiveness are found in Russian proverbs, too. The meanings of English and Russian proverbs largely coincide. At the same time, there are unique meanings in both languages, which reflect, on the one hand, the Russians' love of risk and hope for a favorable outcome in spite of fate, and on the other hand, the greater rationalism of the British in accepting necessity, which is expressed in the use of the modal verb must. Another characteristic feature of the Russian proverbs of this group is the folk origin of most proverbs mentioning God, as opposed to the biblical origin of most English proverbs of a similar subject.