Proverbs in akan-ghana | Postproverbial

Curator(s)

Prof. Helen Yitah

University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana

Curator's Note: The orthography is Asante Twi. A good number of the proverbs are drawn from a book titled Bu Me Be: Proverbs of the Akans compiled by Peggy Appiah, Kwame Anthony Appiah and Ivor Agyeman-Duah, published in 2007 by Ayebia Clarke Ltd.

Proverb: Anoma nini antu a, ne yire ne ne mma buada.
Translation: If a male bird does not fly/stays at one place, its wife and children starve.
Language - Region: akan-ghana

Proverb: Aboa bi reka wo a, ɔfire wo ntoma mu.
Translation: The animal that is biting you is hiding in your cloth.
Language - Region: akan-ghana

Proverb: Aban bɛgu a, ɛfiri yam.
Translation: If the state is going to be destroyed, it is from the inside (the stomach).
Language - Region: akan-ghana

Proverb: Abofra yɛ deɛ yenyɛ a, ɔhunu deɛ yɛnhunu.
Translation: If a child does what is not done, then he sees what should not be seen.
Language - Region: akan-ghana

Proverb: Aboa a ɔnni dua, Nyame na ɔpra ne ho.
Translation: The animal that has no tail, it is God who brushes its body.
Language - Region: akan-ghana

Proverb: Yɛde akyire gya wo a, ɛnka wo nko.
Translation: If we leave you as caretaker you are not regarded as being alone.
Language - Region: akan-ghana

Proverb: Deɛ anyɛ yie, yɛmfa nka asɛm.
Translation: When something does not turn out well, we don’t use it to talk about other things.
Language - Region: akan-ghana

Proverb: Wo yire apem a, w’asem apem.
Translation: If you have a thousand wives, you have a thousand troubles.
Language - Region: akan-ghana

Proverb: Baabi aburopata wɔ no, ɛhɔ na akokɔ bɔ mprɛ korɔ
Translation: Wherever the cornshed stands, there the chicken moves around.
Language - Region: akan-ghana

Proverb: ɔpanin fɛre ne ba, na ɔnsuro no.
Translation: An elder respects his child but does not fear the child.
Language - Region: akan-ghana