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8oru9a found in 'epu9li! of enin$ Togo$ Sierra eone$ rail$ u9a and the other diaspora

8oru9a nations.

Prover9s are language and !ulture universals (e<!ept in some languages li#e the ushmen of

southern "fri!a$ the %iloti! peoples$ a9original "meri!a and Polnesia peoples who have few

or no prover9s (Finnegan$ *0*). The origin of prover9s dates 9a!# as far as the people are

!on!erned. Prover9s are never dated and !ertainl not dead nor lose their popularit and

relevan!e$ even in the te!hnologi!all developed world we are in (;ieder$ 044+). The refle!t

the wisdoms$ e<perien!es$ environments$ o9servations$ o!!upations$ ha9itats$ worldview

(!olle!tive Anowledge) et!. of a people and their past e<perien!es. The are distillation of the

o9servations a9out happenings in the environment and serve as a means of transmitting

!ultural #nowledge$ moral values and the sensi9ilit of the people from one generation to

another. "part from 9eing an aspe!t of language usage$ prover9s ma also 9e viewed as

avenues of e<hi9iting the individual person$ the so!iet and the whole essen!e of a people7s

so!ial relation$ through language. The form part of a people7s real life intera!tion and 5the

un!ons!ious assumptions a9out how the world wor#s= (Samovar$ Porter H ;!Daniel$ *0)

when the intera!t with one another. "!!ordingl$ when a people use prover9$ the are

!ommuni!ating or e<pressing their truth of e<perien!e or of nature$ ideas a9out life$

e<isten!e$ reason and #nowledge ("#poro9aro H Emovon$ 0440C Olu9ode-Sawe$ *4C

Penfield H Duru$ 04//). The truth in prover9s is not logi!al$ a priori or intuitive truth 9ut an

empiri!al one derived from the e<perien!e of life$ human relationship and intera!tion with the

world of nature of the people (8usuf$ 044>).

Prover9s are uniIue from one !ulture to another as the !ommuni!ate the so!ial-!ultural and

geographi!al e<perien!es of a people (Daramola$ *0+). This means$ two languages !an have

similar prover9s 9ut the idea of the prover9s would not 9e the same. To illustrate this$ the

English prover9$ 5One swallow doesnJt ma#e a summer= would not ield the same

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e<pression$ though !ould ield the same meaning$ in 8oru9a. The 8oru9a eIuivalent of the

English prover9 will 9eK 5&gi #an #i7i da7g9o se.= Thus$ despite the uniIueness of prover9s

from one language to the other$ the !ould$ most times$ e<press the same idea$ 9ut$ in an

entirel different form (Aus#ovs#aa$ 04/>). From the a9ove e<ample$ we !an see that the

wa the English des!ri9e their e<perien!e is almost the same wa the 8oru9a do 9ut their

flora and fauna are different. ?owever$ to this differen!e of e<pression$ Daramola (*0+)

views it asK

The e<perimental realit of the 8oru9a prover9s is different from those of other

language groups whose geographi!al and so!io-!ultural realities differ. Prover9s are

used therefore 9 the 8oru9a people not onl as a vehi!le of the e<pression of truth$

religion$ moralit 9ut also dominant o!!upation$ and other pra!ti!es whi!h refle!t

their da-to-da living.

Tring to tra!e prover9s originator(s) might prove diffi!ult as the are the propert of the

users of the language (so!iet)$ thus$ as the are anonmous. Though$ a prover9 ma have

 9een started 9 one person$ on!e the o9servation or e<perien!e of the prover9 is !olla9orated

and a!!epted 9 others$ in the !ommunit$ it 9e!omes the propert of the users. Though there

are variations to the old ones and opportunities for new prover9s to 9e introdu!ed a9ound in

ever !ulture$ as even the most te!hnologi!al sophisti!ated !ultures still relied on prover9s

(;ieder$ 044+). Prover9s e<ist for ever event$ idea or situation and dis!ourse. This is not

saing ever o!!asion or opportunit demands a prover9s as appropriate and the 52udi!ious

use of prover9s is usuall regarded as a sign of wit= (Taiwo$ 04>1$ p. +*) whi!h !arries with it

a level of respe!t among elders (and users) in most "fri!an !ultures. This also emphasises the

suprema! of elders$ in "fri!an so!ieties$ as the are the !ustodians of prover9s as well the

so!io-!ultural heritage (Oso9a$ *0,C Penfield H Duru$ 04//). The ouths too are not left out

in the prover9s usage as the grow up with prover9s using them with their peers and hear as

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the elders use them$ though the are not allowed$ as a mar# of respe!t or honour$ to use

 prover9s to adults B this is an esta9lished rule in 8oru9a and &g9o !ultures$ at least$ if not in

all other "fri!an

,