Òwe on Ìwà: Character as Being

Ìwà is character, and the word is built on the verb wà, to exist, so a proverb about ìwà is always also a proverb about what a person is. This file collects fifty-eight proverbs in which character is the subject: what it does to fortune, whether it can be hidden, where it comes from, and what happens to someone who has beauty or money without it. The Yorùbá position running through them is that character is not an ornament on top of a life but the thing that determines how the life goes.

The proverbs are given in Owomoyela's texts and translations 1 unless another source is named. Owomoyela's parenthetical usage notes are the basis of the Used when lines; where the wording of a note is his, it is quoted. Anything marked as the compiler's is this corpus's own and carries lower confidence.

A note on sources and diacritics

Owomoyela prints full standard orthography with tone marks and subdots, and his texts are reproduced here as printed 1. Where a proverb is taken from a source that prints Yorùbá without tone marks, it appears here untoned and is flagged, because adding diacritics to an untoned text supplies a reading the source did not give. Two such sources are used below: Oyewo's article on ìwà in Yorùbá ethical discourse 2 and Alu's thesis on proverbs and environmental theology 3, both of which print without tones.

Owomoyela's own caution applies to everything here. He declines to attach a named informant to any proverb, on the grounds that proverbs are communal property and that identifying the person he first heard one from would falsely privilege that person as its source 1. So the proverbs are attested, but not dated or localised, except where an internal historical marker allows it.

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Character as the ground of a person

1. Ìwà lẹwà.

Literal: Ìwà character lẹwà is-the-beauty.

Idiomatic: "Character is beauty." 1

Meaning: Beauty is a property of character, not of appearance.

Used when: Spoken to correct someone weighing a person, especially a prospective spouse, by looks. Owomoyela glosses it "A person is as beautiful as his or her character is good" 1

Notes: The near-rhyme of ìwà and ẹwà carries the claim phonetically and English cannot reproduce it. Because ìwà is built on wà, to exist, the sentence also reads "existence is beauty," and Yorùbá does not force a choice between the two readings the way a translation must. This is the single most-quoted Yorùbá proverb on character and it appears in almost every collection.

2. Ìwà rere lẹ̀ṣọ́ èèyàn; ehín funfun lẹ̀ṣọ́ ẹ̀rín.

Literal: Ìwà rere good character lẹ̀ṣọ́ is-the-adornment èèyàn of-a-person; ehín funfun white teeth lẹ̀ṣọ́ ẹ̀rín are-the-adornment of-a-smile.

Idiomatic: "Good character is a person's best adornment; white teeth are the adornment of a smile." 1

Meaning: The thing that makes a person presentable is character, in the way white teeth are what make a smile worth looking at.

Used when: Owomoyela: "A person's most desirable trait is good character, just as a smile's best aspect is white teeth" 1

Notes: Ẹ̀ṣọ́ is adornment in the sense of what one puts on to be seen well, so the proverb concedes that people do decorate themselves and relocates the decoration inward rather than condemning the impulse. The second clause is not decoration: it supplies the analogy that makes the first clause an argument rather than an assertion. Owomoyela prints a reversed variant at 2723, Ehín funfun lẹ̀ṣọ́ ẹ̀rín; ìwà rere lẹ̀ṣọ́ èèyàn, which he renders "The adornment of a smile is white teeth; the adornment of a person is good character," with the note "Good character is more valuable than good looks" 1 The two orderings are equally current.

3. Ìwà lòrìṣà; bí a ti hù ú sí ní ńgbeni sí.

Literal: Ìwà character lòrìṣà is-an-òrìṣà; bí a ti hù ú sí as we cultivate it ní ńgbeni sí is-how it-supports-one.

Idiomatic: "Character is a god; just as one lives it, so it succors one." 1

Meaning: Character functions the way a deity does: it is served, and it responds to the quality of service.

Used when: Owomoyela: "One's fortune depends on one's character" 1

Notes: Hù is the verb used of a plant putting out growth, so hù ìwà is to grow character rather than to have it. The proverb makes an unusually strong claim by Yorùbá standards, placing character in the category of òrìṣà, and it is one of the texts most often cited in the scholarly argument that Yorùbá ethics is not simply derived from religious command. The next entry makes the same move with ẹ̀sìn, worship.

4. Ìwà lẹ̀sìn.

Literal: Ìwà character lẹ̀sìn is-the-worship.

Idiomatic: "Character is worship." 1

Meaning: What a person is counts as their religious practice.

Used when: Owomoyela: "One's worship and prayers are only as efficacious as one's character is good" 1

Notes: Two words, and the compression is the force. Read alongside entry 3 it produces a tight pair: character is the god, and character is the worship of it. Ẹ̀sìn here is religion or worship, and is a different word from ẹṣin, horse, which differs in tone and in the vowel of the first syllable.

5. Ìwà kì í fi oníwà sílẹ̀.

Literal: Ìwà character kì í fi does-not leave oníwà the-owner-of-character sílẹ̀ behind.

Idiomatic: "Character will not forsake its owner." 1

Meaning: Character is permanent property. It does not detach from the person who has it.

Used when: Owomoyela: "One cannot shed one's character" 1 Said of someone expecting a change of place or circumstance to make them a different person.

Notes: Oníwà, the owner of character, is formed on the productive oní- prefix that makes an owner-noun from any noun. Yorùbá treats character as a possession throughout this set of proverbs, which is why shed rather than change is the right English verb.

6. Tìwà tìwà là ńràjò.

Literal: Tìwà tìwà with-character with-character là ńràjò is-how we travel.

Idiomatic: "It is in the company of one's character that one goes on a journey." 1

Meaning: Character travels with you.

Used when: Owomoyela: "No one leaves his or her character at home when venturing abroad" 1 Spoken to someone who assumes a new town or a new post will let them start clean.

Notes: The reduplicated tìwà tìwà is an intensive, roughly "character and nothing but," and it has no English equivalent that is not clumsy. Compare entry 7, which makes the identical point with a habit rather than a character.

7. Oníṣe kì í fi ìṣe ẹ̀ sílẹ̀ re ibi; ó ńre àjò ó mú ìṣe ẹ̀ lọ́wọ́ gírígírí.

Literal: Oníṣe the-owner-of-a-habit kì í fi ìṣe ẹ̀ sílẹ̀ does-not leave his habit behind re ibi going anywhere; ó ńre àjò he is-going on-a-journey ó mú ìṣe ẹ̀ lọ́wọ́ gírígírí he takes his habit in-hand firmly.

Idiomatic: "The owner of a habit will not go on a journey and leave his habit at home; when he goes, he takes his habit along with him." 1

Meaning: Habits are carried, not left.

Used when: Owomoyela: "One cannot escape from one's character" 1

Notes: Gírígírí is an ideophone conveying a firm grip, and the picture is of a traveller clutching a bundle. The proverb is funnier in Yorùbá than the translation allows, because the habit is being carried like luggage the man is anxious not to lose.

8. Éèfín nìwà; kò ṣé-é bò mọ́ra.

Literal: Éèfín smoke nìwà is-character; kò ṣé-é bò mọ́ra it-cannot be-covered against-the-body.

Idiomatic: "Character is smoke; one cannot conceal it under one's clothing." 1

Meaning: Character cannot be hidden.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Character will show" 1 Said of someone maintaining a front.

Notes: Bò mọ́ra is literally to cover against the body, the gesture of hiding something under a wrapper. The image is exact: smoke is precisely the thing that escapes a covering, and it announces its source. Compare entry 9, which uses a shadow for the same claim.

9. Èèyàn-án rìn, òjìjí tẹ̀lé e; kò ṣé-é mú, kò ṣé-é jù sápò.

Literal: Èèyàn-án rìn a-person walks, òjìjí tẹ̀lé e the-shadow follows him; kò ṣé-é mú it-cannot be-grabbed, kò ṣé-é jù sápò it-cannot be-thrown into-a-pocket.

Idiomatic: "A person walks along, and his or her shadow follows; it cannot be grabbed, and it cannot be slipped into the pocket." 1

Meaning: Character accompanies a person inseparably and cannot be managed or put away.

Used when: Owomoyela: "No one can hide his or her character" 1

Notes: The proverb never names character; it is stated entirely as an observation about shadows, and the hearer supplies the referent. This is a common Yorùbá proverb structure and one of the reasons proverbs work as indirect correction: nothing has been said about anyone.

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Character against beauty, wealth and destiny

10. Èèyàn-án dára ó ku ìwà; ilé dára ó ku ìgbé.

Literal: Èèyàn-án dára a-person is-attractive ó ku ìwà there-remains character; ilé dára a-house is-fine ó ku ìgbé there-remains the-living-in-it.

Idiomatic: "A person may be attractive, but character still matters; a home may be gorgeous, but what matters is its livability." 1

Meaning: Appearance is incomplete without the quality that makes the thing usable.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Looks are not everything" 1 Commonly said about a marriage prospect.

Notes: The construction ó ku X, "X remains," means the thing is not yet settled, the way an account is not yet paid. It is a courteous way of saying that the attractive person has not yet been assessed on the point that counts.

11. Ilé dára ó ku ẹkẹ́; èèyàn-án dára ó ku ìwà.

Literal: Ilé dára the-house is-fine ó ku ẹkẹ́ there-remains the-pillar; èèyàn-án dára a-person is-handsome ó ku ìwà there-remains character.

Idiomatic: "The house is beautiful but for its pillars; a person is handsome, but what of character?" 1

Meaning: A structure judged by its surface may be unsound where it bears weight.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Bad character nullifies any charm a person might have" 1

Notes: A variant of entry 10 with ẹkẹ́, the load-bearing pillar, in place of ìgbé, livability. The pillar version is the sharper one because it names the structural member: the fault is not in the finish but in what holds the building up.

12. Ẹṣín dára ó ku aré; èèyán dára ó ku ìwà; ajá òyìnbó dára ó ku àtidẹ.

Literal: Ẹṣín dára the-horse is-fine ó ku aré there-remains running; èèyán dára the-person is-fine ó ku ìwà there-remains character; ajá òyìnbó dára the-European dog is-fine ó ku àtidẹ there-remains hunting.

Idiomatic: "The horse looks great but lacks speed; the man is handsome but lacks character; the European dog is good-looking but cannot hunt." 1

Meaning: In each case the thing has the appearance proper to its kind and lacks the function.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Looks are nothing compared to substance or utility" 1

Notes: Ajá òyìnbó, the European dog, is a historical marker in Owomoyela's sense: the proverb postdates the arrival of imported breeds, which were kept as pets and were useless for hunting compared with local dogs. That dates the proverb, or at least this version of it, to the colonial period or after.

13. Ẹni tó lórí rere tí kò níwà, ìwà-a rẹ̀ ni yó ba orí-i rẹ̀ jẹ́.

Literal: Ẹni tó lórí rere one-who has good orí tí kò níwà who has-not character, ìwà-a rẹ̀ his character ni yó ba orí-i rẹ̀ jẹ́ is-what will spoil his orí.

Idiomatic: "A person who is blessed with good fortune but lacks good character: his character will ruin his or her good fortune." 1

Meaning: Character can destroy a good destiny.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Evil character ruins good destiny" 1

Notes: Orí is the inner head, the destiny chosen before birth, and Owomoyela's "good fortune" smooths away a technical term. The proverb is the compressed form of a doctrinal position argued at length in Ifá: that destiny is not fate, because character intervenes between the destiny chosen and the life lived. Anyone using this proverb as evidence about Yorùbá thought should note that it is a claim inside a live dispute, not a neutral description.

14. Ẹni tó lówó tí kò níwà, owó olówó ló ní.

Literal: Ẹni tó lówó one-who has money tí kò níwà who has-not character, owó olówó the-money of-the-moneyed ló ní is-what he-has.

Idiomatic: "The person who has riches but lacks good character has other people's riches." 1

Meaning: Wealth without character is held in trust for whoever will take it.

Used when: Owomoyela: "A rich person without good character soon loses his or her riches to others" 1

Notes: Owó olówó, the money of the money-owner, is a deliberate near-tautology that turns on the fact that olówó names someone else. The proverb does not say the wealth will be lost; it says it already belongs to another person, which is a harder claim.

15. Ẹni tó ní ẹẹ́wàá ò níwà; ẹni tí ó níwà ò ní ẹẹ́wàá.

Literal: Ẹni tó ní ẹẹ́wàá one-who has ten-cowries ò níwà has-not character; ẹni tí ó níwà one-who has character ò ní ẹẹ́wàá has-not ten-cowries.

Idiomatic: "The person who has good character does not have 10 cowries; the person who has 10 cowries does not have good character." 1

Meaning: Means and character rarely coincide.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Character and means seldom go together" 1

Notes: A sour proverb, and worth keeping precisely because it cuts against the improving tone of most of this set. Owomoyela records it without softening it. The cowrie reference dates the proverb to the cowrie currency period, which ran until the early colonial era. The near-pun of ẹẹ́wàá (ten cowries) against ìwà is audible and is part of why the proverb is memorable.

16. Ẹni tó bá ìwà búburú wá sáyé, tòun tokùn àjàrà ní ńlọ sọ́run.

Literal: Ẹni tó bá ìwà búburú wá sáyé one-who with bad character comes to-the-world, tòun tokùn àjàrà he-together-with a-vine-rope ní ńlọ sọ́run is-how he-goes to-heaven.

Idiomatic: "Whoever comes into this world accompanied by bad character goes back to heaven by means of a vine." 1

Meaning: Bad character brings its owner to a bad end.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Bad character will be the undoing of its owner" 1

Notes: The vine is a hanging. The proverb states a violent death with complete indirection, naming only the material, which is characteristic of Yorùbá proverbs about death.

17. Ẹni rere kì í kú sípò ìkà.

Literal: Ẹni rere a-good person kì í kú does-not die sípò ìkà in-the-position of-a-wicked-person.

Idiomatic: "A good person does not die the death of an evil person." 1

Meaning: The manner of a death is fitted to the character of the life.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Each person will be recompensed according to his or her character" 1

Notes: Ìkà is wickedness or cruelty. Ipò, position or station, is doing double work: it means both the social standing and the physical posture in which a person is found dead. The proverb is consoling when said of a good person's death and threatening when said of a living wicked one, and both uses are current.

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Where character shows

18. Ìwà ní ńjọ oníwà lójú.

Literal: Ìwà character ní ńjọ is-what pleases oníwà its-owner lójú in-the-eye.

Idiomatic: "Character is always remarkable (or good) in the opinion of its owner." 1

Meaning: Everyone approves of their own character.

Used when: Owomoyela: "One naturally approves of one's own character" 1 Said to deflate a self-assessment.

Notes: Owomoyela's parenthetical "(or good)" records a genuine ambiguity in jọ ... lójú, which covers both being pleasing to and seeming right to. The proverb is the Yorùbá statement of the problem that self-knowledge is not available by introspection, which is why entry 19 says the information has to come from other people.

19. A kì í ní ọ̀kánjúwà ká mọ̀; ará ilé ẹni ní ńsọ fúnni.

Literal: A kì í ní ọ̀kánjúwà one does-not have covetousness ká mọ̀ and know-it; ará ilé ẹni the-people of-one's-house ní ńsọ fúnni are-who tell one.

Idiomatic: "One does not know that one has covetousness; it is one's kin who so inform one." 1

Meaning: A person cannot see their own greed. Only the household can.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Often, only those close to one can recognize and point out one's flaws" 1

Notes: Ọ̀kánjúwà is covetousness or greed, from kán ojú, roughly "the eye is sharp for." The proverb makes the household the organ of moral perception, which is consistent with the Yorùbá location of moral formation in the compound rather than in the individual conscience. It also licenses a specific speech act: a relative may tell you this about yourself, and you may not resent it.

20. Oǹsìn ní ńmọ ìwà.

Literal: Oǹsìn the-servant ní ńmọ ìwà is-who knows the-character.

Idiomatic: "The servant is best placed to know the master's character." 1

Meaning: The person who serves you sees what you are.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Those dependent on you can best tell what sort of person you are" 1

Notes: Owomoyela's bracketed "the master's" is his supplement; the Yorùbá says only "knows character," leaving whose character unstated, and the hearer supplies it. The proverb is a claim about epistemic position: subordinates observe from an angle superiors cannot check.

21. Ibi ajá la ti ńmọ oǹrorò àpọ́n.

Literal: Ibi ajá at-the-matter-of-the-dog la ti ńmọ is-where we know oǹrorò àpọ́n the-cruel bachelor.

Idiomatic: "It is from his treatment of his dog that one can tell which unmarried man will be a terror to live with." 1

Meaning: Small unwatched behaviour predicts large behaviour.

Used when: Owomoyela: "One can tell much about a person's character from how he or she acts with regard to seemingly inconsequential matters" 1 Used in practice when a family is assessing a suitor.

Notes: Àpọ́n is specifically an unmarried man, so the proverb has a definite social setting: the dog is the only dependent he currently has, and it is therefore the only available evidence. The reasoning is inductive and the proverb is unusually explicit about its own method.

22. Ìwà awó ní ńpe awó lẹ́tù.

Literal: Ìwà awó the-behaviour of-the-guinea-fowl ní ńpe awó is-what calls the-guinea-fowl lẹ́tù a-guinea-fowl.

Idiomatic: "It is the guinea fowl's behavior that makes one know it as a guinea fowl." 1

Meaning: A creature is identified by how it behaves, not by what it is called.

Used when: Owomoyela: "By their habits shall people be known" 1

Notes: Awó and ẹtù are both words for guinea fowl, so the Yorùbá sentence is close to "the guinea fowl's behaviour is what calls a guinea fowl a guinea fowl," and the effect depends on the doubling of the name. English has one word and loses it.

23. Ìwà adìẹ ní ńwí pé ká tu ìyẹ́ ẹ̀.

Literal: Ìwà adìẹ the-chicken's behaviour ní ńwí pé is-what says that ká tu ìyẹ́ ẹ̀ we-should pluck its feathers.

Idiomatic: "It is the chicken's behavior that caused its wing feathers to be plucked." 1

Meaning: Conduct brings its own punishment.

Used when: Said of someone whose trouble is traceable to their own behaviour rather than to malice from others. Owomoyela's note, truncated in the source used here, begins "People by their ..." 1

Notes: Wing feathers are clipped to stop a chicken flying out of the compound, so the punishment is precisely a loss of the freedom the bird abused. That fit between offence and penalty is the point and the translation does not carry it.

24. Ilé là ńwò ká tó sọmọ lórúkọ.

Literal: Ilé the-house là ńwò is-what we look-at ká tó sọmọ lórúkọ before we name a-child.

Idiomatic: "One considers the home before giving a child from it a name." 1

Meaning: The household is the evidence for what the child will be.

Used when: Owomoyela: "A child's character is a good indication of the sort of home he or she comes from" 1

Notes: Yorùbá naming is literally descriptive, and a name given at the naming ceremony records circumstances of the lineage and the birth, so "considering the house" is a real procedural step and not a metaphor. The proverb is then used metaphorically for any judgement that should take origins into account.

25. Olè lọmọ olè ńfìwà jọ.

Literal: Olè a-thief lọmọ olè is-whom the-child-of-a-thief ńfìwà jọ resembles in-character.

Idiomatic: "A thief's child takes after him." 1

Meaning: Character runs in a household.

Used when: Owomoyela: "One takes after one's parents" 1

Notes: Fìwà jọ, to resemble in character, is a fixed idiom distinct from jọ, to resemble in appearance. Yorùbá marks the difference lexically where English needs a phrase. Set against entry 24 it forms a pair on inheritance of character, and neither proverb allows the child much room.

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Character and other people

26. Ẹgbẹ́ búburú ní ńba ìwà rere jẹ́.

Literal: Ẹgbẹ́ búburú bad company ní ńba ìwà rere jẹ́ is-what spoils good character.

Idiomatic: "Bad company ruins good character." 1

Meaning: Character is degraded by association.

Used when: Owomoyela: "The reputation of one's company rubs off on one" 1 Standard parental speech to a young person about their friends.

Notes: This is close enough to 1 Corinthians 15:33 that its status deserves the caution the corpus applies to entry 38 of yoruba-owe-proverbs: after a century and a half of Yorùbá Christianity, a proverb matching a biblical sentiment may be indigenous, may be naturalised from scripture, or may be both, and confident assertions in either direction are unsafe. Ẹgbẹ́ is the age-set or peer group, an actual Yorùbá institution rather than a loose word for company, which slightly favours indigenous formation. Confidence on origin: contested.

27. Ẹni à ńbá rìn là ńfìwà jọ.

Literal: Ẹni à ńbá rìn the-one we walk with là ńfìwà jọ is-whom we resemble in-character.

Idiomatic: "It is the person whose company one keeps that one emulates." 1

Meaning: People take their character from those they move with.

Used when: Owomoyela: "One should match one's comportment to one's company" 1

Notes: 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.

28. Ìwà á jọ ìwà ní ńjẹ́ ọ̀rẹ́ jọ ọ̀rẹ́.

Literal: Ìwà á jọ ìwà character resembling character ní ńjẹ́ is-what makes ọ̀rẹ́ jọ ọ̀rẹ́ friend resemble friend.

Idiomatic: "Compatibility of character means compatibility in friendship." 1

Meaning: Friendship works when characters match.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Friendship succeeds only when the friends are compatible in their habits" 1

Notes: The doubled structure ìwà jọ ìwà / ọ̀rẹ́ jọ ọ̀rẹ́ is the whole proverb, and it argues by grammatical parallel rather than by assertion: the resemblance of the two clauses enacts the resemblance they describe.

29. Mọ ìwà fóníwà loògùn ọ̀rẹ́.

Literal: Mọ ìwà know character fóníwà for-its-owner loògùn ọ̀rẹ́ is-the-medicine of-friendship.

Idiomatic: "Knowing and accepting each person's character for what it is is the medicine for friendship." 1

Meaning: Friendship is sustained by accepting the friend as they are.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Mutual tolerance is indispensable in friendship" 1

Notes: Oògùn is medicine, and in proverbs of this shape it means the working remedy for a named problem, as in iṣẹ́ ni oògùn ìṣẹ́, work is the medicine of poverty. Naming friendship as a condition requiring medicine implies friendship is inherently prone to failure, which entry 30 states outright.

30. Ọ̀rẹ́ pọ̀; ìwà àti ìkà inú-u wọn ò dọ́gba.

Literal: Ọ̀rẹ́ pọ̀ friends are-many; ìwà àti ìkà inú-u wọn the-character and the-wickedness inside them ò dọ́gba are-not equal.

Idiomatic: "Friends abound, but their character and their wickedness are very different." 1

Meaning: The category "friend" tells you nothing about the person in it.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Friendship does not mean compatibility or mutual good will" 1

Notes: Ìkà, wickedness, is set directly beside ìwà in a way that treats it as a kind of character rather than as its absence, which is consistent with Yorùbá usage where ìwà is neutral and takes rere (good) or búburú (bad) as needed.

31. Abanijẹ́ ba ara ẹ̀ jẹ́.

Literal: Abanijẹ́ the-one-who-spoils-others ba ara ẹ̀ jẹ́ spoils himself.

Idiomatic: "A detractor injures his own reputation." 1

Meaning: Running others down damages the person doing it.

Used when: Owomoyela: "A person who maligns other people reflects badly on his own character" 1

Notes: The proverb turns on repeating the verb ba ... jẹ́, to spoil, with the object switched from others to self, so the sentence performs the reversal it asserts. Abanijẹ́ is an agent noun built from the same verb, so all three elements are one root, which is why the Yorùbá is four words and the English is eight.

32. Ẹní mọ ẹni ò dàbí ẹni a mọ̀.

Literal: Ẹní mọ ẹni one-who knows one ò dàbí is-not like ẹni a mọ̀ one whom one knows.

Idiomatic: "A person who knows one is not like a person one knows." 1

Meaning: Being known by someone is not the same as knowing them, and only the second supports a judgement about character.

Used when: Owomoyela: "One can vouch for the character of a person one knows, not of a person who knows one" 1 Used when someone is asked to stand surety on the strength of a claimed acquaintance.

Notes: The Yorùbá distinguishes the two directions by word order alone, with no change of vocabulary, so the proverb is a minimal pair. It has practical force in a culture where standing surety for a person is a formal act with real liability.

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Character formed and deformed

33. À-bí-ì-kọ́; à-kọ́-ì-gbà; òde ló ti ńkọ́gbọ́n wálé.

Literal: À-bí-ì-kọ́ one-born-and-not-taught; à-kọ́-ì-gbà one-taught-and-not-accepting; òde outside ló ti ńkọ́gbọ́n wálé is-where he-will-learn-wisdom home.

Idiomatic: "A-child-that-was-never-taught-how-to-behave, a-child-that-was-taught-but-refused-to-heed-instruction: it is from outside the home that he will learn wisdom." 1

Meaning: A child not formed at home will be formed by the world, on the world's harsher terms.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Look well to your child's upbringing" 1 Also said resignedly about an adult already past correction.

Notes: The two compressed nominals are formed by the à- ... ì- pattern that makes a noun out of a whole clause, and each names a distinct failure: never taught, and taught but unwilling. English needs a hyphenated chain to hold them, as Owomoyela's rendering shows. This proverb is the standard Yorùbá text on the household as the site of moral formation and is treated further in owe-omoluabi-moral-formation.

34. Kí ọmọdé tó gbọn, ìwà-a ẹ̀ á bàjẹ́.

Literal: Kí ọmọdé tó gbọn before a-child becomes wise, ìwà-a ẹ̀ his character á bàjẹ́ will-be spoiled.

Idiomatic: "Before a child learns wisdom, he or she will have earned a bad reputation." 1

Meaning: Wisdom arrives after the damage that teaches it.

Used when: Owomoyela: "One seldom learns wisdom before one has made some blunders" 1 Used to argue for patience with a young person.

Notes: Bàjẹ́ covers both spoiled and disgraced, so the Yorùbá does not separate the ruin of the character from the ruin of the name, and Owomoyela's "reputation" chooses one side of a word that holds both. Read against entry 33 the pair is not consistent: 33 says formation is the household's job, 34 says failure is unavoidable first. Yorùbá proverbs are tools selected for occasions, not clauses in a system.

35. Bí ayé bá ńyẹ ni, ìwà ìbàjẹ́ là ńhù.

Literal: Bí ayé bá ńyẹ ni if life is suiting one, ìwà ìbàjẹ́ corrupt character là ńhù is-what we grow.

Idiomatic: "If life is being good to one, one is likely to act disgracefully." 1

Meaning: Prosperity corrupts conduct.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Prosperity breeds temptations to misbehave" 1 Said of someone whose manners have changed with their fortunes.

Notes: Hù, to sprout, is used of character throughout this set, and its use here makes corruption a growth rather than a lapse: comfort is the soil. The proverb is a warning to the fortunate and, said in their hearing, a fairly direct accusation.

36. Bí a ó ti tó kì í jẹ́ ká hùwà búburú; bí a ó ti mọ kì í jẹ́ ká hùwà rere.

Literal: Bí a ó ti tó how-great we shall become kì í jẹ́ ká hùwà búburú does-not let us grow bad character; bí a ó ti mọ how-limited we shall be kì í jẹ́ ká hùwà rere does-not let us grow good character.

Idiomatic: "The heights one will reach keep one from evil deeds; the ordained limit to one's greatness keeps one from doing good deeds." 1

Meaning: A person's destined scope shapes the conduct they turn out to be capable of.

Used when: Owomoyela: "A person's achievements are enhanced or limited by the person's character" 1

Notes: Owomoyela's usage note runs the causation the opposite way from his own translation: the translation has destiny governing conduct, the note has character governing achievement. The proverb is genuinely reversible in Yorùbá because neither clause marks which term is prior, and this is one place where the collection's translation and its gloss are in visible tension. Confidence on the meaning: contested.

37. Ìwà òní, ẹjọ́ ọ̀la.

Literal: Ìwà òní today's conduct, ẹjọ́ ọ̀la tomorrow's court case.

Idiomatic: "Today's behavior causes tomorrow's problem." 1

Meaning: Present conduct is future litigation.

Used when: Owomoyela: "The foolish behavior of the present sows the seeds of difficulties for the future" 1

Notes: Four words, no verb. Ẹjọ́ is specifically a legal case or dispute brought before a court or an elder, not a vague problem, so the Yorùbá names the exact future institution in which today's conduct will be examined. Owomoyela's "problem" loses that.

38. Ìwà ọ̀lẹ ńba ọ̀lẹ lẹ́rù; ọ̀lẹ́ pàdánù, ó ní aráyé ò fẹ́ràn òun.

Literal: Ìwà ọ̀lẹ the-lazy-person's character ńba ọ̀lẹ lẹ́rù fills the-lazy-person with-fear; ọ̀lẹ́ pàdánù the-lazy-person loses-out, ó ní he says aráyé ò fẹ́ràn òun the-world does-not love him.

Idiomatic: "The lazy person's character fills him or her with fear; the lazy person loses all and complains that the world hates him or her." 1

Meaning: The idler's losses come from his own character, and he attributes them to hostility.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Each person is more the architect of his or her own fortune than the victim of others' machinations" 1

Notes: Aráyé, the people of the world, is the standard Yorùbá term for the unspecified human agency blamed for misfortune, and often carries an implication of witchcraft. The proverb's target is precisely that habit of attribution.

39. Ahùwà-ìbàjẹ́ ṣe bí tòun là ńwí; aṣe-burúkú o kú ara fífun.

Literal: Ahùwà-ìbàjẹ́ one-who-grows-corrupt-character ṣe bí tòun là ńwí thinks it-is-his that we discuss; aṣe-burúkú evildoer o kú ara fífun greetings on your self-constriction.

Idiomatic: "The person of evil character thinks he is the subject of discussion; the evildoer is plagued by suspiciousness." 1

Meaning: Wrongdoing produces a permanent suspicion that one is being talked about.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Evil acts breed uneasy consciences" 1 Said when someone takes a general remark as a personal attack.

Notes: The second clause is a mock greeting. O kú is the ordinary Yorùbá greeting formula, "greetings on the occasion of," and attaching it to ara fífun, self-tightening or self-constriction, produces an ironic salutation for which English has no equivalent register. Owomoyela renders the sense and drops the form.

40. Ẹni tó tijú tì í fún ara-a rẹ̀.

Literal: Ẹni tó tijú one-who feels-shame tì í fún ara-a rẹ̀ feels-it for himself.

Idiomatic: "The person who is self-aware protects his or her own reputation thereby." 1

Meaning: The capacity for shame is a self-protective faculty.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Good character benefits the owner more than others" 1

Notes: Ojú tì, literally "the eye pushes," is the Yorùbá idiom for feeling shame, and Owomoyela's "self-aware" translates it as a virtue rather than an emotion, which is defensible but is an interpretation. A more literal rendering, "whoever is capable of shame is ashamed on his own behalf," keeps the ambiguity. Shame as a positive faculty is treated at length in owe-shame-reputation.

41. Ẹni a fẹ́ kì í ṣìwà hù.

Literal: Ẹni a fẹ́ one whom we love kì í ṣìwà hù does-not grow wrong-character.

Idiomatic: "A beloved person can do nothing wrong." 1

Meaning: Affection suspends judgement of character.

Used when: Owomoyela: "To be loved is to be infallible" 1 Said sarcastically, of favouritism.

Notes: Ṣìwà, from ṣì (to err) plus ìwà, is a single word for having bad character, and it takes the same verb hù as good character does. The proverb is descriptive, not approving: it reports a bias rather than endorsing it, and its normal use is to point out that a bias is operating.

42. Àgbà òṣìkà ńgbin ìyà sílẹ̀ de ọmọ-ọ rẹ̀.

Literal: Àgbà òṣìkà a-wicked elder ńgbin ìyà sílẹ̀ is-planting suffering down de ọmọ-ọ rẹ̀ awaiting his children.

Idiomatic: "A wicked elder sows suffering for his children." 1

Meaning: The consequences of an elder's cruelty are collected from his descendants.

Used when: Owomoyela: "One's character often affects the fortunes of one's children" 1

Notes: Gbin, to plant, with de, to await, gives a crop sown deliberately for someone to arrive and harvest. Owomoyela prints this proverb twice, at 702 and 1306, in the humility and caution sections respectively, cross-referencing each to the other; the text is identical 1.

43. Ànán-mánàán ẹtú jìnfìn; oní-mónìí ẹtú jìnfìn; ẹran mìíràn ò sí nígbó lẹ́hìn ẹtu?

Literal: Ànán-mánàán yesterday-and-yesterday ẹtú jìnfìn the-antelope falls-in-a-pit; oní-mónìí today-and-today ẹtú jìnfìn the-antelope falls-in-a-pit; ẹran mìíràn ò sí nígbó is-there-no other animal in-the-forest lẹ́hìn ẹtu besides the-antelope?

Idiomatic: "Yesterday the antelope was caught in a pit trap; today the antelope is caught in a pit trap; is there no other animal in the forest besides the antelope?" 1

Meaning: Repeated misfortune to the same person points to something in the person.

Used when: Owomoyela: "If the same person repeatedly finds himself or herself in difficulties others are able to avoid, one should look to the person's character for the explanation" 1

Notes: The reduplications ànán-mánàán and oní-mónìí are emphatic time adverbs with a mocking rhythm that the English cannot reproduce. The proverb is a piece of reasoning, not an accusation: it declines to say what is wrong with the antelope and only observes that the pattern needs explaining.

44. Ọwọ́ ẹni la fi ńtú ìwà ara ẹni ṣe.

Literal: Ọwọ́ ẹni one's own hands la fi ńtú ìwà ara ẹni ṣe is-what we use to undo-and-remake one's own character.

Idiomatic: "One's own hands are what one uses to mend one's fortune." 1

Meaning: Character is repairable, and only by its owner.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Each person's fortune is in his or her own hands" 1

Notes: Owomoyela translates ìwà here as "fortune" rather than "character," which is a substantive interpretive choice: the Yorùbá word is the same one rendered "character" everywhere else in this file. The verb tú ... ṣe is to untie and redo, used of rebuilding something that was badly made, so the literal sense is closer to "one's own hands are what one uses to remake one's own character." The disagreement between the printed translation and the literal reading is real and is left standing here. Confidence on the rendering: medium.

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Character, appearance and the judgement of others

45. Àjàjà ṣoge àparò, abàyà kelú.

Literal: Àjàjà uncharacteristically ṣoge dressed-up àparò partridge, abàyà kelú with-chest thrust-out.

Idiomatic: "The uncharacteristically spruced-up partridge swells its chest." 1

Meaning: Newly acquired finery produces exaggerated display.

Used when: Owomoyela: "The nouveau riche always goes to extremes in consumption" 1

Notes: Abàyà kelú is an epithet of the form used in oríkì praise poetry, so the proverb mimics praise while delivering mockery. That double register, praise-form carrying ridicule, is a standard Yorùbá device and is completely lost in translation.

46. Dídán lẹyẹlé ńdán kú.

Literal: Dídán shining lẹyẹlé is-what the-pigeon ńdán kú shines until-death.

Idiomatic: "A perpetually shining appearance is what characterizes the pigeon even until death." 1

Meaning: Some reputations stay bright to the end.

Used when: Owomoyela records two readings: "Either an observation that a person's reputation cannot be tarnished or a wish that it never become tarnished" 1

Notes: Owomoyela's double gloss is worth preserving rather than resolving. The proverb can be a compliment or a blessing depending on delivery, and a collection that picks one reading destroys half of the proverb's utility. The construction dán kú, to shine until death, is the same verb-plus-kú pattern that gives jẹ kú, to eat until death.

47. Ọkùnrin jẹ́jẹ́ a-bìwà-kunkun.

Literal: Ọkùnrin jẹ́jẹ́ a-gentle man a-bìwà-kunkun one-with-hard-character.

Idiomatic: "An easygoing man's gentle mien hides a strong disposition." 1

Meaning: A mild manner is not evidence of a mild character.

Used when: Owomoyela: "The quiet type is often a tough customer" 1 A warning against underestimating someone.

Notes: The epithet a-bìwà-kunkun, one-who-has-hard-character, is again an oríkì-style formation, and here it functions as a title rather than a description. Kunkun is hard in the sense of unyielding, used of dried clay and stubborn people alike.

48. Ẹni tí yó yá àni lówó, tí kò níí sinni, ohùn ẹnu-u rẹ̀ la ti ńmọ̀.

Literal: Ẹni tí yó yá àni lówó one-who will lend one money, tí kò níí sinni who will-not pester-one, ohùn ẹnu-u rẹ̀ the-voice of-his-mouth la ti ńmọ̀ is-where we know-it.

Idiomatic: "The person who will lend money and will not keep pestering one for repayment, one can tell from the tone of his or her voice." 1

Meaning: Manner of speech reveals what kind of creditor a person will be.

Used when: Owomoyela: "The way people talk is a good indication of their character" 1

Notes: Ohùn, voice or tone, is a technical term in a tonal language and the proverb exploits that: the claim is about how a person sounds, not what they say. Yorùbá speakers make fine discriminations on ohùn that English speakers make on wording.

49. Ẹni tí ìbá hùwà ipá ò hùwà ipá; ẹni tí ìbá hùwà ẹ̀lẹ̀ ò hu ẹ̀lẹ̀; ọ̀kùn tó nígba ọwọ́, tó nígba ẹsẹ̀ ńhùwà pẹ̀lẹ́.

Literal: Ẹni tí ìbá hùwà ipá one-who would grow character-of-force ò hùwà ipá does-not; ẹni tí ìbá hùwà ẹ̀lẹ̀ one-who would grow character-of-gentleness ò hu ẹ̀lẹ̀ does-not; ọ̀kùn tó nígba ọwọ́ the-millipede that has two-hundred arms, tó nígba ẹsẹ̀ that has two-hundred legs ńhùwà pẹ̀lẹ́ grows gentle character.

Idiomatic: "The person one would expect to be reckless is not reckless; the person one would expect to be cautious is not cautious; the millipede with two hundred arms and two hundred legs behaves very gently." 1

Meaning: Character does not follow from capacity. The creature best equipped for force is the mildest.

Used when: Owomoyela's note is truncated in the source used here, beginning "Even though one ..." 1 In use the proverb praises restraint in someone who could have acted otherwise.

Notes: Ìgba, two hundred, is a round large number in Yorùbá counting rather than a census of the millipede's legs. The choice of the millipede is exact: an animal with more limbs than anything else and no aggression whatever, which is the argument in a single image.

50. Mú orí lọ, má mú ẹwà lọ; òòjọ́ lẹwà ńdẹ̀hìn, orí ní ńbá ni gbélé ọkọ.

Literal: Mú orí lọ take orí along, má mú ẹwà lọ do-not take beauty along; òòjọ́ lẹwà ńdẹ̀hìn in-a-single-day beauty falls-behind, orí ní ńbá ni gbélé ọkọ orí is-what stays-with one in-the-husband's-house.

Idiomatic: "Go with your head, not with your beauty; beauty abandons one in a day, but one's head remains with one in the marital home." 1

Meaning: What sustains a marriage is the inner head, not appearance.

Used when: Owomoyela: "A woman should care more about good character than about beauty" 1 Spoken to a young woman at marriage.

Notes: Orí is the inner head or destiny, and Owomoyela's usage note translates it into the register of character, which is a real slide: the proverb says orí and his gloss says character. In Yorùbá thought the two are linked but distinct, and this proverb is one of the places where ordinary speech runs them together. Confidence on the gloss: medium.

51. Obìnrin tí kò níwà, ìyá ẹ̀ ní ńbá ṣorogún.

Literal: Obìnrin tí kò níwà a-woman who has-no character, ìyá ẹ̀ her mother ní ńbá ṣorogún is-whom she has as-co-wife.

Idiomatic: "A woman without good character will have only her mother as co-wife." 1

Meaning: She will be sent back to her mother's house and remain there.

Used when: Owomoyela: "A woman without good character is unlikely to find a husband" 1

Notes: Orogún is the co-wife relationship in a polygynous household, structurally rivalrous, so the joke is that the only woman she will ever share a household with is her own mother. The proverb assumes both polygyny and patrilocal marriage and is unintelligible without them. It is also, plainly, a proverb aimed at women in a way its counterparts about men are not, and collections that present the Yorùbá proverb corpus as evenly distributed across the sexes are not describing it accurately.

52. Ṣe igbá ilé jẹ́jẹ́; a ò mọ ìwà tí toko yó hù.

Literal: Ṣe igbá ilé jẹ́jẹ́ treat the-home calabash gently; a ò mọ ìwà tí toko yó hù we do-not know the-character that the-farm-one will grow.

Idiomatic: "Handle the home calabash with care; no one knows how the farm calabash will behave." 1

Meaning: Take care of what you have, because the replacement is unknown.

Used when: Owomoyela: "Be good to the things and people you already have; you can never be sure what you might end up with if you were to trade them for new ones" 1 Said to someone contemplating leaving a spouse or a position.

Notes: Attributing ìwà to a calabash is not loose talk: in the Ifá literature ìwà extends to the manner of being of any thing, which is what makes the pun on household object and household member work. The proverb reads as prudential advice about crockery and lands as advice about a marriage.

53. Ọgbọ̀ọgbọ̀n là ńrọ ìjánu, ọ̀kọ̀ọ̀kan là ńmọ ìwà èèyàn.

Literal: Ọgbọ̀ọgbọ̀n in-thirties là ńrọ ìjánu is-how we forge bridles, ọ̀kọ̀ọ̀kan one-by-one là ńmọ ìwà èèyàn is-how we learn the-character of-people.

Idiomatic: "In the thirties one manufactures bridles; one by one one learns people's character." 1

Meaning: Character is learned individually and slowly, unlike goods made in batches.

Used when: Owomoyela: "If it were possible to know people's character beforehand, one would more easily choose those one would have anything to do with" 1

Notes: Owomoyela prints this as the opening of a longer proverb which continues "had I known a certain person's character when she was offered to me, I would not have married her" and ends with the phrase adunnijọjọ bí abájọ, which he renders "a situation that hurts like 'had I known'" 1 The first two clauses are quoted here because they circulate independently and carry the general point; the fuller text is at 3426 in Owomoyela. The distributive numerals ọgbọ̀ọgbọ̀n (in thirties) and ọ̀kọ̀ọ̀kan (one by one) are formed by reduplication and their contrast is the whole argument.

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Proverbs from untoned sources

The four texts in this section come from sources that print Yorùbá without tone marks. They are reproduced in that state. No diacritics have been supplied, because supplying them would supply a reading the source did not authorise.

54. Iwa rere l'eso eniyan. (printed without tone marks)

Literal: Iwa rere good character l'eso is-the-adornment eniyan of-a-person.

Idiomatic: Oyewo prints two renderings side by side: "Good character is the guard/security of human beings" and, as an alternative he reports as current, "good character is the wealth for human being" 2

Meaning: On Oyewo's first reading, good character protects its owner, so that a person of good character needs no protective charm. On the second, good character is itself the possession that makes a person secure, because people will meet the needs of someone whose character is good 2.

Used when: Oyewo gives it as one of the standard derivative maxims attached to iwa in Yorùbá moral teaching 2.

Notes: The two readings turn on the word Oyewo transliterates eso, which in toned orthography could be ẹ̀ṣọ́, adornment or ornament, or ẹ̀ṣọ́, a guard. Oyewo's source does not mark tone, so the ambiguity cannot be resolved from the printed text, and this is a clean illustration of why the corpus does not supply diacritics to untoned sources: the tone marks would decide the meaning. Owomoyela's toned text at entry 2 of this file, Ìwà rere lẹ̀ṣọ́ èèyàn, with "adornment," selects one of the two 1. Confidence: contested.

55. Iwa l'ewa omo eniyan. (printed without tone marks)

Literal: Iwa character l'ewa is-the-beauty omo eniyan of-the-child-of-a-person.

Idiomatic: "Character is the beauty of human beings," in Oyewo's rendering; he also reports the form "character is the foundation of human existence," quoting Dada 2.

Meaning: Good character is more admirable than physical beauty, and a person with good character but no beauty is valued above a beautiful person without it 2.

Used when: Oyewo reports it as the maxim behind the standard advice to young men choosing a wife: Iwa ni e wo, e ma tori ewa f'aya sile, "look after her character and never marry a lady because of beauty" 2

Notes: This is the expanded form of entry 1. Dada's rendering as "foundation of human existence" rather than "beauty" is an interpretation resting on the derivation of ìwà from wà, to exist, which Dada makes explicit: "A person without iwa (character) is therefore seen as a non-being" 2 That is a philosophical reading of a proverb whose surface says beauty, and it should be labelled as such rather than treated as the translation.

56. Obinrin so 'wa nu o l'oun o m'ori oko w'aye. (printed without tone marks)

Literal: Obinrin a-woman so 'wa nu threw character away o l'oun she says o m'ori oko w'aye she did-not bring the-orí of-a-husband to-the-world.

Idiomatic: "A woman with deficit in character blames destiny for her marital misfortune." 2

Meaning: A woman who has lost her marriage through her own conduct attributes the loss to destiny.

Used when: Oyewo gives it as the saying used of women whose marriages fail and who explain the failure by fate 2.

Notes: Orí oko, the head-of-a-husband, is the destiny of having a husband, chosen before birth, so the woman is claiming she was not allotted one. The proverb rejects that as an excuse. Like entry 51 it is aimed specifically at women and reflects the asymmetry of the Yorùbá marital proverb corpus rather than a general principle.

57. San'be sun, f'apo ro'ri, iwa omo ni m'omo s'okigbe. (printed without tone marks)

Literal: San'be sun girded-with-knives sleeping, f'apo ro'ri using a-quiver to-pillow the-head, iwa omo the-child's character ni m'omo s'okigbe is-what drives the-child to-the-magic-of-immunity.

Idiomatic: "One who sleeps girdled with knives and pillows his/her head in a quiver, it is his/her character that drives him/her to dabble in the magic of immunity." 2

Meaning: A person who must sleep armed has been driven to it by their own conduct, which has made them enemies.

Used when: Oyewo gives it as the counterpart to entry 54: the person of bad character is prone to danger, lives in fear, and resorts to charms and weapons for external protection, which the person of good character does not need 2.

Notes: Òkìgbe, rendered "the magic of immunity," is the class of preparation held to make the body impervious to cuts and to gunfire. The proverb's argument is diagnostic: the armament is not the problem but the symptom, and it identifies its owner. Oyewo cites Idowu, African Traditional Religion: A Definition, p. 197 for the text and translation 2.

58. Omode bu iroko, o boju weyin. (printed without tone marks)

Literal: Omode a-child bu iroko insults the-ìrókò-tree, o boju weyin he looks behind.

Idiomatic: Alu reports the saying in the context of an elders' warning and does not print a full stand-alone English rendering; the sense he gives is that the child who abuses the ìrókò looks over his shoulder, and that the day one abuses Olúwéré is not the day retribution arrives 3.

Meaning: Offence against something powerful produces immediate fear, and the reckoning comes later rather than at once.

Used when: Alu introduces it with "the elders say," as a warning about consequences that do not arrive on the day of the offence 3.

Notes: The ìrókò (Milicia excelsa) is a large hardwood treated in Yorùbá practice as inhabited, and insulting it is not a merely verbal act. Olúwéré is a name associated with a powerful spirit in the continuation of the saying that Alu quotes. This entry is included with lower confidence than the rest of the file because the source paraphrases rather than translating, and the text is printed without tone marks. Confidence: medium.

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Reading this set

Three things are visible across these fifty-eight proverbs that are not visible in any one of them.

Character is treated as substance, not conduct. It is owned (oníwà), grown (hù), carried on journeys, unable to be shed, and capable of ruining a destiny. English moralising vocabulary makes character an evaluation of behaviour; Yorùbá proverb vocabulary makes it a thing a person has. That difference survives every translation in this file and is the main reason the literal glosses are worth reading beside the idiomatic ones.

The corpus disagrees with itself and the disagreement is load-bearing. Entry 33 makes the household responsible for a child's formation; entry 34 says character is spoiled before wisdom arrives regardless. Entry 13 says character overrides destiny; entry 36, on Owomoyela's own translation, says destined scope governs conduct. A proverb is selected for an occasion, and the occasions differ. Assembling these into a single doctrine of character produces a system no Yorùbá speaker asserted.

The gendered proverbs are not symmetrical. Entries 51 and 56 fault women for marital failure in terms that have no male counterpart in this set, and entry 50 addresses a woman specifically. That asymmetry is a fact about the recorded corpus and is reported here rather than balanced away, which would misrepresent the record. Whether it reflects Yorùbá thought generally or the collecting practices of the mostly male scholars who assembled these collections is a live question that this file cannot settle.