Thematic category of meal, cuisine, and hospitality in the Hungarian proverbial lore

Abstract

This study is aimed on the thematic selection of the Hungarian proverbs dealing with gastronomy and hospitality both in direct and figurative way. As a source for this compilation we used recent and earlier editions of the proverbs’ dictionaries. We searched for proverbs using keywords, and not only. A substantial number of proverbs was identified as belonging to this thematic group. Through the comparative and descriptive approach, we divided all the selected proverbial material into subgroups. A special semantic filter was applied to distinguish the proverbs containing so-called Hungarikum realia. The selection of Hungarian proverbs for this thematic groups was also used in order to contribute to the theory of the common Central-European linguistic area.

Keywords

• Cuisine
• gastronomy
• hospitality
• Hungarian
• Hungarikum
• proverbs