摘要：In this paper I examine the role of generic cognitive mechanisms in language structure
and use through an analysis of proverbs related to dogs in English and Spanish. I give
an outline of proverb cognition based on universal principles, which constitutes an
alternative view to that of Lakoff & Turner (1989), and is in line of Ruiz de Mendoza
(1999b: 54), who puts forward a more economic and motivated conceptual model.
Besides, by means of a corpus of study I carry out contrastive cognitive and
sociolinguistic analysis between English and Spanish proverbs. Such analysis shows
how proverbs share a common underlying schema of cognition, while they reflect
different cultural believes. Thus, proverbs constitute a rich resource to analyse the way
we process experience and conceptualise the world. The conclusion can be reached that
proverbs are a conceptual universal phenomenon with high communicative and crosscultural
value.
