Búun Saba – Proverbs, Sayings and Maxims in Eastern Tangale

(Northern Nigeria)

Author: Herrmann Jungraithmayr. In collaboration with: Njeno Andirya Galadima, Stephen Njeno Yoblis. Illustrated by: Ishaku H. Osman. Series edited by: Herrmann Jungraithmayr, Norbert Cyffer, Rainer Voßen.

Series: WeStu Westafrikanische Studien Volume 31

2006
22 pp. Roman, 131 pp.
4 b/w photos, 64 drawings, index Tangale-Englisch, English-Tangale
Text language(s): English
Format: 160 x 240 mm
390 g
Paperback
€ 34.80

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A proverb is as much the property of a people as its language, it could never be invented. Proverbs, proverbial sayings and maxims originate from a particular experience or observation which people make in their specific environment, and they became a proverb only by repeated, often daily usage by the members of an ethnic/linguistic group. They reflect insights into the mechanisms of life, hence they produce wisdom and courage which may help to master situations of general life problems. They also have the function of accumulating the knowledge and perception of ancestors and setting moral standards for present and future generations. In traditional Africa, there was no wise speech without proverbs. Wise elders were not addressed in ordinary language in former times. The use and mastering were a measure of culture and manners.

This collection of about 400 items of oral literature in the Tangale language – belonging to the Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family and situated in the Northern part of Nigeria – have been compiled with the help and contributions of many East Tangale speakers, men and women of different age. As to their degree of applicability and semantics, the proverbs may differ considerably from each other, having a more general character or reflecting very specific situations and contexts which can only be understood by a cultural insider of a given ethnic group.

A part of the proverbs is accompanied with drawings visualising the meaning of the Tangale sayings. Búun Saba – literally meaning arrow of word – shows just a small sample of the real wealth of proverbs that the Tangale people possess. It is the outcome of a first endeavour which the authors hope will encourage further activities in this fruitful field of the collective memory culture of a Nigerian people.

 

Under these links you will find an anthology of folktales and an account of religious beliefs of the Tangale people, as well as further proverb collections and analyses of African languages:

Accompanying material:

• Religion, Myth and Magic in Tangale (ISBN 978-3-927620-46-9)
• Síndi – Tangale Folktales (ISBN 978-3-89645-110-1)

Cross-reference:

• Boran Proverbs in their Cultural Context (ISBN 978-3-89645-280-1)
• Goldgrube – Oromo-Sprichwörter und -Redewendungen (ISBN 978-3-927620-29-2)
• Luba-Sprichwörter (ISBN 978-3-927620-61-2)
• Mandinka Spoken Art (ISBN 978-3-927620-63-6)
• Oromo Oral Poetry Seen from Within (ISBN 978-3-89645-276-4)
• Proverbs Finish the Problems – máakut(i) t’awá shuultáa (ISBN 978-3-89645-284-9)
• Rendille Proverbs in their Social and Legal Context (ISBN 978-3-89645-271-9)
• Swahili Proverbs from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (ISBN 978-3-89645-744-8)
• Traditions, Tales and Proverbs of the Bali-Nyonga (ISBN 978-3-927620-32-2)

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