The influence of motivation on the use of a proverb as an argument (on the material of French language)

The article considers the conditions for successful use of proverbs during argumentations and critical discussions. All the conclusions and theoretical provisions are based on the paremiological fund of French proverbs (notably French proverbs with negations). The article shows the difference between the notion of the paremiological etymological meaning related to the diachronic aspect, and the notion of the paremiological motivation related to the synchronic and diachronic aspects. The motivation of proverbs is presented as a key aspect, which influences the frequency of their use as an argument. The author analyzes the differences between the definitions of a word’s motivation and a proverb’s motivation. The article contains the author’s definition of the paremiological motivation and author’s classification of proverbs’ motivation degrees (examples of motivation, partial motivation and demotivation in proverbs and their influence on the use of proverbs as an argument). The author highlights the interdependence of idiomatic and analytical meanings of proverbs’ components, the influence of demotivation of analytical components on gradual demotivation of idiomatic meaning of proverbs. Proverbs with archaisms and historicisms gradually become inefficient arguments, therefore they are rarely used during critical discussions because they can cause misunderstanding.