Proverbs in yoruba-nigeria

Curator(s)

Prof. Aderemi Raji-Oyelade

University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Proverb: Bí wọ́n bá ń tàn mí, mi ò ní tan ara mi.
Translation: Should people deceive me, I won’t deceive myself.
Language - Region: yoruba-nigeria

Proverb: Bí òkété bá dàgbà tán, omú ọmọ rẹ̀ ní í mu.
Translation: Once a rodent gets old, it sucks its child’s breasts.
Language - Region: yoruba-nigeria

Proverb: Bí olóko bá jágbọ́n ẹsẹ̀ bíbù, olè a sì bá inú omi lọ.
Translation: If the farmer learns how to find the footprints of the thief, the thief makes escape through the swamp.
Language - Region: yoruba-nigeria

Proverb: Bí ènìyàn kò bá ṣubú, kò ní mọ ẹrù ú rù.
Translation: If a person does not stumble, she/he will not know how well to carry the load.
Language - Region: yoruba-nigeria

Proverb: Bí Adìyẹ bá dàmí l’óògùn nù, màá fọ́ ọ l’ẹ́yin.
Translation: If a fowl scatters and destroys my herbs, I will break its eggs.
Language - Region: yoruba-nigeria

Proverb: Báwo l’ọ̀bọ ṣe s’orí tí ìnàkí ò ṣe?
Translation: What is the difference between the head of a monkey and the head of a gorilla?
Language - Region: yoruba-nigeria

Proverb: Ayé l’ọjà, ọ̀run n’ilé.
Translation: The world is a marketplace; heaven is the home.
Language - Region: yoruba-nigeria

Proverb: Àpọ́nlé ni Ìyá Káà, kò sẹ́ni tó wà ní Káà tí ò lórúkọ.
Translation: It’s a sheer honour to be called “Court Matriarch”, there’s no woman who does not have a proper name.
Language - Region: yoruba-nigeria

Proverb: À kúkú ù joyè, ó sàn ju “enu mi ò ká ìlú”.
Translation: Better not to be made a chief, than to say “I am incapable of controlling my people”.
Language - Region: yoruba-nigeria

Proverb: A kìí gba àkàkà lọ́wọ́ akítì, a kìí gba’lée baba ẹni lọ́wọ́ ẹni.
Translation: No one stops a monkey from somersaulting; no one can claim a child’s father’s house from him.
Language - Region: yoruba-nigeria