In Banga Soup like in Achu Soup: Discovering Cameroonian Peoples Through Their Proverbs
Proverbs are concise statements which summarize, often in metaphorical, witty, and rhythmic fashion, the morals, wisdom, truths, or traditional views of a group. The ideas stored and transferred in proverbs are an important source of cultural instruction and orientation for people around the world. To most African peoples, and Cameroonians are no exception, proverbs are indeed the palm oil with which words are eaten. They add taste, color, and flavor to their source languages and, even when translated to pidgin or English, leave streaks of reddish orange around the mouth. As part of the oral traditions which prevailed in many indigenous cultures before the introduction of formal writing systems like the modern alphabet, proverbs draw their power from their ability to, as ecologist and philosopher David Abrams puts it, “…incorporate themselves into our felt experience; the shifts of action echo and resonate our own encounters — in hearing or telling the [proverb] we vicariously live it, and the travails of its characters embed themselves into our own flesh.”
Proverbs are considered communal knowledge and so are rarely attributed to a single person, an attitude reflected in how the statements are prefaced. It is common practice to start proverbs with statements attributing them to the community (Our people say…), an animal which features prominently in folklore (Tortoise said…) or to elders, considered arbiters of wisdom (Our fathers/elders/ancestors say…). As a means of cultural instruction and orientation, proverbs reflect some of the most deeply held values of a people, making them handy mechanisms by which to comment on unfolding events, persuade listeners, clarify opinions, recommend procedures, and express approval or disapproval. Take, for example, the Gbaya proverb: “Impatience ate raw things”, or the Fulani proverb “With patience one can cook a stone.” Both, obviously, speak to the value of patience as a virtue but one relies on the metaphor of uncooked food to indicate that which is unpalatable, and the other on cooking as a process by which that which is unpalatable might become better suited for consumption.
Proverbs are often deployed as weapons of defense or to make an argument which has the authority of custom and tradition. The authority of such proverbs lies in how they invoke what people know about themselves and the world they inhabit. The Nso proverb “When you admire the red feather, you must remember war”, is a strongly worded caution against unbridled ambition whose meaning might be lost on someone who does not understand the symbolism of the red feather in certain Cameroonian cultures. Similarly, while another Nso proverb “The shoulder does not grow above the head”, and the Kenyang proverb “What an old man sees while sitting, a young man on top of a coconut tree can never see” both speak to the importance of understanding one’s limits, one relies on an easily verifiable aspect of human anatomy and the other weaves aspects of community life with generally accepted beliefs about the wisdom that only age can provide. Also, the same proverb, spoken by a person from a people located away from the coastal region of the country where coconut trees are more common, might refer to a kola nut tree.
An interesting way proverbs are often used is to convey information covertly, where a situation is commented upon in light of another, providing a means of discretion during communication. This colorfully described episode from anthropologist Jean-Louis Siran’s analysis of Vute proverbs illustrates:
We are dancing at night in front of the chief’s house. Bodies warm to the rhythm of the drum while the sanza plays. Beer is flowing freely. Alcohol contributes to the joy which reigns and carries us away. One woman over there grabs the cup that my friend has raised to his lips. I see that he is going to protest. But I know the woman. I know her easy repartee and to what extent she can insult even her husband. I am afraid that my friend will soon be put in a difficult situation. Quickly, I look at him and yell:
Nim yogi midu ikoo, soogi mrittkyuik yaa! (That which transcends the wailer, would it not also transcend the rocker?)
The friend hears me, lets things be, and thus avoids a public affront. My message got through, without offending anyone. The dance goes on. Here we have very clearly value, meaning, and signification. Value of my intervention: “Drop it, or this woman will shame you.” But I could not say this clearly, or I myself would have been exposed to the affront from which I wanted to shield my friend. Instead, I let him interpret the existing situation in light of another: “the wailer” is the woman who is in labor, “the rocker” is any other of the child’s mothers (co-wives or sisters).
As one of the African continent’s most richly endowed cultural artifacts, proverbs demonstrate the creativity of people as well as their deep engagement with their inner and outer worlds. They also have universal appeal in their ability to help people find common ground. Indeed, across the world, proverbs have been exchanged, translated, represented, and circulated to find potential commonalities between cultures. Here’s hoping you find humor and wisdom in the selection of proverbs below which I curated from books, research papers, student dissertations and blog posts.
Gbaya Proverbs
1. Jealousy never solved any problems.
2. A house is not built on rafters.
3. If a member of your family is at the mouth of the honeycomb, you’re not going to eat wax.
4. A trickle of water that goes alone goes crookedly.
5. Children do not eat chicken with old men.
Gbaya people are found in the Eastern region of Cameroon as well as in the Central African Republic, Congo (Brazzaville) and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Gbaya are known for their bitter resistance of French occupation in the early 1900s.
Kom Proverbs
1. A personal child is only in the womb.
2. If the hand goes too deep into the anus, it will touch feces.
3. A person’s teeth are never too bad for him to laugh.
4. Sorcery does not affect an innocent man.
5. One visits only the kola-nut tree from which kola-nuts fall.
6. A big rat does not manage the house of a mouse.
7. Giraffe died because of pride.
8. If the wind is not blowing, you cannot see the rump of a fowl.
9. When a clay-pot gets too hot it breaks.
The Kom are a Fondom (Kingdom) in the Northwest region of Cameroon. Kom people are well known for their highly organized communities, powerful leadership, and matrilineal lines of succession. The Kom are significant contributors to the Cameroonian cultural landscape through their traditional dance known as Njang, as well as through folk singer Prince Afo Akom.
Fulani Proverbs
1. Better to die than be shamed.
2. The one who learnt without understanding, the one who understood without learning, the one who neither learnt nor understood, those are the three who will eventually cause the destruction of Fuuta Jaloo.
3. Dust does not kill a small guinea fowl.
4. Dignity is like oil, once spilled, it cannot be recollected.
5. Common sense is not sold or inherited.
6. Drive back the cattle while they are still near.
7. Fattening a child is better than fattening a gazelle.
8. An old man’s actions may be unpopular, but they will not be unnoticed.
The Fulani (also known as the Fula or Fulbe) are an ethnic group whose massive population can be found in all West African countries as well as in the Central African Republic, Sudan, and Egypt. In Cameroon, Fulani communities are found mostly in the Adamawa, North and Far North regions where they make up over sixty percent of the local populations of each of these three regions. Fulani people live in settlements or adopt a nomadic lifestyle. They are prolific cattle herders and Fulani herdsmen driving their cattle are a familiar sight on Cameroonian roads even in the southern part of the country. Oral tradition tells that the Fulani were led to the Adamawa plateau by a cow seeking water. A common saying referencing that episode states: “Na’i ngaddi Ardo Njobdi ga’en, naa laamu” which translates to “It was the cows who brought Ardo Njobdi here, not a search for power.” This contradicts other accounts which give military conquest as the reason for Fulani expansions during that time. While the Fulani were early converters to Islam in the middle ages and remain a primarily Muslim people, folk tales, rituals, and other practices from pre-Islamic times persist and continue to shape community life in some subsets of the Fulani population.
Nso Proverbs
1. A person has defecated on his path to the latrine.
2. Somebody has a knife and yet scrapes his body with a stick.
3. When the hand is rubbing the lap, the lap also rubs the hand.
4. Somebody has exaggerated the announcement of a newborn to the extent of telling the witch.
5. Somebody is feeding bush fowls with maize while the chicken are starving.
6. One who constantly ask for directions never misses his way.
7. The person worked at Ndzeedzev, worked at Taankum, and lost out in the entertainment.
8. When a poor man develops a sweet tooth, he is in trouble.
9. When a disagreement ensues over profit, the cost is known.
10. When you lack a calabash, do not dirty the water.
11. One hand cannot tie a bundle.
12. Cockroaches do not attend a fowl’s market.
Nso is a Fondom in the Northwest region of Cameroon. Nso people are known for their hierarchical and highly organized society. The Fon is the center of Nso society and social strata are organized around him, his family, and attendants. The Nso are known for their rich culture of music and dance as well as for their deep spirituality, both traditional and Catholic.
Awing Proverbs
1. When you wash your hands with the elders, you eat delicious things.
2. Allow the child’s fever to the mother.
3. An animal crosses the river where its mother also crosses.
4. You have picked kola nuts without looking at the tree.
5. It is only when the wings of an eagle are broken that he can become the friend of a hen.
6. A pot does not send the lid.
7. Can someone hide in a dry season corn farm?
8. Use your own mouth to blow your own fire.
9. A woman’s urine cannot cross a boundary.
10. They do not look at the hands of a person weeding a farm.
Awing is a Fondom in the Northwest region of Cameroon. Awing people refer to themselves, their village and language as “Mbiwiŋ”.
Bayangi Proverbs
1. An old man can only fall from a cola nut tree and not from a plum tree.
2. A child does not trip over the same doorstep twice.
3. A small problem that is neglected will always grow big.
4. We can only carry a village on the shoulder and not on the head.
5. Don’t give advice to kill a man.
6. A child that does not grow will always remain a baby.
7. A stubborn hen always listens in the pot of soup.
8. They have taken a white dress and tied around the pigs mouth.
9. If you don’t touch bitter leaf, your hands will not be bitter.
The Bayangi are a people from the Southwest region of Cameroon. The people call themselves Manyang which means “People of Anyang” which refers to Anyang (also called Kenyang), their language.
Bakossi Proverbs
1. The eye doesn’t bring a fish out of water.
2. The father seats firmly, the son does not.
3. An empty hand doesn’t go to the mouth.
4. The horns of a cow are never too heavy for it to bear.
5. A good hunting dog can only be judged by its ability to understand the hunting bell.
6. Don’t shelter from rain where you know you will not be able to sleep.
7. Let the flies themselves eat up the ears of the puppy.
8. Even the closest of friends can never share their wives.
9. A woman must not be killed during war.
10. A man who has not traveled thinks that his mother is the best cook in the world.
The Bakossi are a people from the Southwest region of Cameroon. They are one of the largest groups in this region.
Assorted Proverbs
1. A woman’s beauty is a cloud’s beauty. (Fang )
2. The favorite wife does not mourn her husband. (Kundu )
3. The witch swallows her nearest kin. (Duala )
4. Extraction of teeth and wedlock spoil beauty. (Kweli )
5. In war time, even women carry Ngumba instruments. (Bali Nyonga )
6. A single tree cannot make a forest. (Ngwo )
7. A stream that flows alone has many bends. (Mbili )
8. A river meanders because it is alone. (Mankon )
9. One finger cannot steal meat from a pot. (Bamum )
10. One broomstick does not sweep the house. (Bamessing )
11. An elephant does not tire of carrying its tusk. (Oroko )
12. A stubborn fly follows the corpse to the grave. (Ejagham )
13. When you walk all day, darkness falls. When you run all day, darkness falls. (Babanki)
14. The sorghum-eater is not small on its panicle. (Vute)
References
- Abram, David. The Spell Of The Sensuous: Perception And Language In A More-Than-Human World. Vintage, 2017, pp. 113–114.
- Yuka, C. “The structure of Lamnso proverbs.” Retrievable from https://www. researchgate. net (2016).
- Jick, Henry, and Gilead Ngam. “Generic Varieties And Performance Principles In Kom Oral Literature”. International Journal Of Liberal Arts And Social Science, vol 4, no. 5, 2016, https://ijlass.org/data/frontImages/gallery/Vol._4_No._5/3._14-25.pdf. Accessed 6 Oct 2020.
- Siran, Jean-Louis. “Names and proverbs among the Vute (Cameroon): signification, meaning and value.” Journal of folklore research (1989): 207–227.
- Williamson, Catalina et al. “Migrating Proverbs”. Public Interventions, 2021, https://www.publicinterventions.org/work/migrating-proverbs. Accessed 22 Oct 2021.
- Noss, Philip A. “Ideas, phones and Gbaya verbal art.” TYPOLOGICAL STUDIES IN LANGUAGE 44 (2001): 259–270.
Christensen, Thomas G. An African tree of life. №14. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2015. - Gerdes, Paulus. “Exploring the game of” Julirde”: A mathematical-educational game played by Fulbe children in Cameroon.” Teaching Children Mathematics 7.6 (2001): 321–321.
- VerEecke, Catherine. “‘Ethnic change and continuity among the Fulbe of Adamawa Nigeria: The view from the household.” Pastoralists under pressure (1999): 91–112.
- Boutrais, Jean. “Les Foulbé De L’Adamaoua Et L’élevage: De L’idéologie Pastorale à La Pluri-Activité (The Adamawa Fulani and Stock Raising: From Herding Ideology to Economic Diversification).” Cahiers D’Études Africaines, vol. 34, no. 133/135, 1994, pp. 175–196. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4392518. Accessed 12 Aug. 2020.
- Lendzemo Yuka, Constantine. “The Structure Of The Lamnso’ Proverb”. University Of Benin, 2015.
- Akem, Eveline M. “Awing Proverbs: From Patriarchy To Feminist Revolt”. EPH — International Journal Of Educational Research, vol 4, no. 4, 2020, https://ephjournal.org/index.php/er/article/view/1686/980. Accessed 14 Oct 2020.
- Njui, Mbu Martha. “Linguistic Interpretation of Proverbs in the Kenyang Language.” Journal of Language Teaching and Research 10.3 (2019): 421–426.
- Sone, Enongene Mirabeau. “Language And Gender Interaction In Bakossi Proverbial Discourse.” California Linguistic Notes 40 (2016): 1.
- Schipper, Mineke, and Wilhelmina Janneke Josepha Schipper. Never marry a woman with big feet: Women in proverbs from around the world. Yale University Press, 2003.
- Njwe, Eyovi. “”The Palm Oil with Which Words Are Eaten”: Proverbs from Cameroon’s Endangered Indigenous Languages.” Languages in Africa (2014): 118.
