15 Common Igbo Proverbs And Their Translations - AMEBO NEWSPAPERS NG.

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15 Common Igbo Proverbs And Their Translations

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Chinua Achebe defined proverbs as “Ilu bụ mmanụ eji eri okwu” meaning “the salt with which words are eaten”. 

A good understanding of Igbo Proverbs would automatically lead one to an understanding of the Igbo man, his philosophy of life, tradition, culture and mode of living. It is in them that the accumulated knowledge, wisdom, religious belief and experience of the Igbo man throughout his history have been embedded and preserved.

Igbo language has several “dialects.” As a result, many of us may not immediately understand the meaning of proverbs owing to the perhaps strange dialect of words therein contained.

Here are 15 Common Igbo proverbs and their meaning.

E lewe ukwu Egbue ewu - A buxom waist that makes her man(husband) kill a goat for her when he looks at it.

Nwunye awo si na di atoka uto, ya jirinuta nke ya kworo ya n'azu - The female toad said that husband is so sweet that when she got married, she carried her husband permanently on the back.

Nwata bunie nna ya enu, akpaamu ya ayochie ya anya - If a child lifts his father, his scrotum will blindfold him.

"Nwunye anyi, nwunye anyi": ka ndeli bia ka anyi mara onye o bu nwunye ya - "Our wife, our wife": come midnight and we will know whose wife she really is.

Nwaanyi muta ite ofe mmiri mmiri, di ya amuta ipi utara aka were suru ofe - If a woman decides to make the soup watery, the husband will learn to dent the Garri before dipping it into the soup.

Onye hapu onu ya, uguru arachaa ya - If one fails to lick his lips, the harmattan will do it.

Ijiji na-enweghi onye ndumodu na-eso ozu ala n'inyi - A fly that has no counselor follows the corpse to the grave.

Oke oshimmiri anokataghi rie onye obula nke o na-ahughi ukwu ya anya - The ocean never swallows a person with whose leg it does not come in contact.

Ohia woro gi nku, sere gi onu - The forest that denies you firewood has massaged your neck.

O bulu na i taa m aru n'ike, ma i zeghi nshi; mu taa gi aru n'isi, agaghi m ezere uvulu - If you bite me on the butt, despite the danger of sinking your teeth into fecal matter, then if I bite you on the head, I will disregard the danger of sinking my teeth into cerebral matter.

A tuoro omara, o mara, a tuoro ofeke, o fenye ishi n'ohia - If you tell a wise one, he understands; tell a dunce, he runs into the bush.

Ula towa uto, ekwowe ya ekwowe - When sleep becomes enjoyable, we snore.

Mmanu akara di uto; Onye ratu, ibe ya a ratu - Bean cake oil is sweet; one who tastes should allow others have a taste.

Ogologo abughi na nwa m e tola - Tallness is not a yardstick to define maturity.

Ewere otutu cho ewu ojiio tupu abali aru - look for a black goat during the day before the night comes.

Do you know more Igbo proverbs? Drop them in the comment section.

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