Abanijẹ́ ba ara ẹ̀ jẹ́.
Character and other people
Ìpilẹ̀
Abanijẹ́ ba ara ẹ̀ jẹ́.
Ìtumọ̀ ọ̀rọ̀-sí-ọ̀rọ̀
- Abanijẹ́ the-one-who-spoils-others ba ara ẹ̀ jẹ́ spoils himself.
Ìtumọ̀ Gẹ̀ẹ́sì
"A detractor injures his own reputation."
Orísun náà kò dárúkọ ẹni tí ó túmọ̀ rẹ̀.
Ohun tí ó túmọ̀ sí
Running others down damages the person doing it.
Ìgbà tí a ń lò ó
Owomoyela: "A person who maligns other people reflects badly on his own character"
Àkíyèsí lórí ìtumọ̀
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.