Viajes de ida y vuelta de las paremias: del Viejo mundo al Nuevo Mundo. Su actividad en Chile

In this article we aim to look into the use of paremies in Chile –above all, those pertaining to the popular sphere, such as proverbs. It is usually recognized that the use of paremies has decreased as a result of an increase in the cultural level of Chilean population, whose social groups have become equal. People usually express their ideas using their own phrases –proverbs, together with other lyric forms, such as romancero (ballads), chants, tales and legends are part of a tradition which is alive only in the rural areas of the country. We aim to prove, however, the opposite: the use of fixed structures is very common in Chile and throughout Latin America. A language cannot live without these structures, which show not only cultural traits of a people and a time, but also, and essentially, great value in the study of language and its relationship with speakers, that is, communicative and pragmatic value.