The Effect of Context on the Cultural, Historical, and Literary Formation of Animal Proverbs: A Case Study of Mazandarani Language, Mazandaran Province, Iran from a Cognitive and Ethno-linguistic Perspective

This article examines the complex interplay between historical, cultural, and literary contexts in shaping the formation, semantic range, and social functions of animal proverbs in the Mazandarani language, a variety of middle Persian still spoken in the northern Iranian province of Mazandaran. Building on frameworks from cognitive linguistics, ethno-linguistics, eco-semiotics, and the performance theory of folklore, the article intends to explore how environmental setting, religious symbolism, intercultural contact, and literary tradition jointly condition local proverb imagery. The study focuses on five high-frequency animal figures jackal, swine, cat, dog, and hen-whose recurrence in this corpus likely reflects deep connections to the region's ecology, agricultural history, and moral imagination. Through an interdisciplinary review of relevant scholarship and contextual analysis, this paper situates Mazandarani animal proverbs within a broader web of meaning that transcends lexicon, revealing them as living cultural artefacts.

Keywords:

Mazandarani language , animal proverbs , cultural context/context , cognitive linguistics , ethno-linguistics