Ẹni à ńbá rìn là ńfìwà jọ.
Character and other people
Original
Ẹni à ńbá rìn là ńfìwà jọ.
Glosa literal
- Ẹni à ńbá rìn the-one we walk with là ńfìwà jọ is-whom we resemble in-character.
Inglés idiomático
"It is the person whose company one keeps that one emulates."
La fuente no nombra a ningún traductor.
Qué significa
People take their character from those they move with.
Se usa cuando
Owomoyela: "One should match one's comportment to one's company"
Notas sobre la traducción
Bá rìn, to walk with, is the ordinary Yorùbá expression for keeping company, and the proverb is literal about the mechanism: character is transmitted by proximity and repetition, not by instruction. Compare entry 26, which states the same process as damage.