Ìwà á jọ ìwà ní ńjẹ́ ọ̀rẹ́ jọ ọ̀rẹ́.
Character and other people
Original
Ìwà á jọ ìwà ní ńjẹ́ ọ̀rẹ́ jọ ọ̀rẹ́.
Word-for-word gloss
- Ìwà á jọ ìwà character resembling character ní ńjẹ́ is-what makes ọ̀rẹ́ jọ ọ̀rẹ́ friend resemble friend.
Idiomatic English
"Compatibility of character means compatibility in friendship."
Di source no name any translator.
Wetin e mean
Friendship works when characters match.
When dem dey use am
Owomoyela: "Friendship succeeds only when the friends are compatible in their habits"
Notes on di translation
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.