Proverbs, songs and singing

This paper gives an overview of Finnish proverbs and singing. Finnish proverbs may be said to be quite strongly bound together with singing. The first proverbs with melody originate from the days the first traditional Finnish proverbs are known. From 20th century we have modern proverbs combined with music. The paper discusses where the diving line between proverb, poem and song is – or is there any need for it from folkloristic and paremiologic point of view.

Key-words: proverb, singing, song, tradition.