Igbo Language - Proverbs

Proverbs

Proverbs and idiomatic (ilu in Igbo) expressions are highly valued by the Igbo people and proficiency in the language means knowing how to intersperse speech with a good dose of proverbs. Chinua Achebe (in Things Fall Apart) describes proverbs as "the palm oil with which words are eaten". Proverbs are widely used in the traditional society to describe, in very few words, what could have otherwise required a thousand words. Proverbs may also become euphemistic means of making certain expressions in the Igbo society, thus the Igbo have come to typically rely on this as avenues of certain expressions.

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Famous quotes containing the word proverbs:

    The human mind plans the way, but the LORD directs the steps.
    Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 16:9.

    All one’s ways may be pure in one’s own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.
    Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 16:2.

    As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.
    —Bible: Hebrew Proverbs 11:22.