Adopting the model of Cognitive Grammar as proposed and developed by Ronald Langacker (1987, 1991, 2008), the article applies three basic cognitive parameters on the continuum of linguistic structure: analyzability, compositionality, and institutionalization, to an analysis of proverbs and especially to new proverbial modifications. The aim of the study is twofold: first, by proposing a two-dimensional coordinate system, we seek to establish a correlation between analyzability and compositionality. Second, by adding a third parameter on linguistic structure, namely institutionalization, we develop a three-dimensional system which, we believe, can offer a fuller account of the grammar-lexicon continuum.