Ìwà kì í fi oníwà sílẹ̀.
Character as the ground of a person
Original
Ìwà kì í fi oníwà sílẹ̀.
Word-for-word gloss
- Ìwà character kì í fi does-not leave oníwà the-owner-of-character sílẹ̀ behind.
Idiomatic English
"Character will not forsake its owner."
Di source no name any translator.
Wetin e mean
Character is permanent property. It does not detach from the person who has it.
When dem dey use am
Owomoyela: "One cannot shed one's character" Said of someone expecting a change of place or circumstance to make them a different person.
Notes on di translation
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.