Ìwà awó ní ńpe awó lẹ́tù.
Where character shows
Original
Ìwà awó ní ńpe awó lẹ́tù.
Literal gloss
- Ìwà awó the-behaviour of-the-guinea-fowl ní ńpe awó is-what calls the-guinea-fowl lẹ́tù a-guinea-fowl.
Idiomatic English
"It is the guinea fowl's behavior that makes one know it as a guinea fowl."
No translator is named in the source.
What it means
A creature is identified by how it behaves, not by what it is called.
Used when
Owomoyela: "By their habits shall people be known"
Notes on the translation
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.