Ìwà á jọ ìwà ní ńjẹ́ ọ̀rẹ́ jọ ọ̀rẹ́.
Character and other people
Original
Ìwà á jọ ìwà ní ńjẹ́ ọ̀rẹ́ jọ ọ̀rẹ́.
Literal 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."
No translator is named in the source.
What it means
Friendship works when characters match.
Used when
Owomoyela: "Friendship succeeds only when the friends are compatible in their habits"
Notes on the 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.