Axiological and Linguistic Approaches To Currency-Related Proverbs in Western and Eastern Studies

Abstract

Proverbs have long served as concise, metaphorical reflections of cultural wisdom, encapsulating attitudes toward major social concepts, including money and wealth. While Western scholars often examine money-related proverbs through cognitive, semantic, and sociological frameworks, Eastern researchers approach them from ethical, axiological, and cultural perspectives, highlighting the deeper moral lessons they convey. Despite rich scholarly contributions, comparative analyses that systematically bridge Western cognitive-linguistic methods and Eastern axiological-cultural interpretations remain limited, particularly regarding how proverbs embody socio-economic values. This study aims to explore and compare Western and Eastern scholarly approaches to currency-related proverbs, analyzing their linguistic, cultural, and axiological dimensions. The findings reveal that Western research tends to prioritize conceptual metaphors and socio-economic ideologies, while Eastern research underscores moral instruction, cultural identity, and social critique. Both traditions demonstrate that money-related proverbs serve not merely as linguistic artifacts but as profound cultural documents reflecting societal priorities and ethical norms. By synthesizing insights from both traditions, this research offers a broader, interdisciplinary understanding of how monetary proverbs function as cultural and moral signifiers across diverse linguacultures. The study contributes to cross-cultural linguistics, paremiology, and cultural studies, emphasizing the need for integrative methodologies that recognize the complex interplay between language, values, and socio-economic worldviews preserved in proverbial wisdom.