African Journal of Educational Research and Development (AJERD), Vol. 11, No. 2, Dec. 2018

THE GRAMMATICALITY AND ACCEPTABILITY OF PROVERBS IN LANGUAGE USE AS A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION AND INSTRUCTION IN TRADITIONAL ANAANG SOCIETY

Dr. Edenowo T. Enang Department of English University Obio Akpa Campus [email protected]

Abstract This paper analized the grammaticality and acceptability of Proverbs in language use as means of communication and instruction in traditional Anaang society. The paper also exposes a compendium of proverbs in Anaang and carefully sort out what some scholars have said about proverbs and education. To achieve this purpose, a long list of proverbs in Anaang has been sorted out and carefully accounted for while taking cognizance of the communicative roles proverbs play in traditional Anaang communities. There is also examination of the socio-cultural functions of these proverbs as a vehicle for sharpening the instructional patterns of people at individual and communal levels. The theoretical framework employed in this work is Linguistic Trado-culturalism, a theory propounded by the Traditional Culturalists for use as a vehicle for extolling and conveying the values of a people’s rich cultural heritage and the propagation of the philosophical significance of their heritage to generations yet unborn. The conclusion is drawn from the fact that proverbs, no matter the type of functions (communicative or instructional) they play, are inextricably tied to the socio-cultural idiosyncrasies of the society within which they operate.

Keywords: Grammaticality and acceptability, Proverbs, language use, communication and instruction, Anaang traditional society.

Introduction The are known for their proverbs and for their insistence on their apt use. It is an established assertion that an Anaang-man’s reputation as a good speaker or as a successful oral artist, to a large extent, depends on his ability to use ufied (proverb) in his speech acts. Any speech or literary composition that is not punctuated here and there with apt proverbs and idioms is regarded as ifed (naked, the opposite of ufied) that is, it is considered as lacking in that expressive force which makes a listener nod his head either in approval and admiration of what is said or shake his head because he finds it difficult to make a headway on what he said or he does not understand it at all. Any unadorned expression in Anaang is seen as roughly equivalent to a pot of soup that is watery because it lacks the necessary condiments or ingredients.

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The need to acquire the ability to understand and use proverbs in the language cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand or glossed over. It is for this reason that the Anaang people use the following proverbs or their equivalents to ridicule the ignorant ones: (a) Agwo unana ifiok isikopo usen uwiere ikpe sade ke ekekama ufied ewiere, ntoon ase anoñ akene mbonagwo alekeda anyoñ ntere ntere, meaning - the unintelligent who attended a gathering for the settlement of a dispute rose to go when he saw others do so but wondered when a decision would be taken because proverbs were used, he failed to understand that the ruling had already been given. (b) Ama top ufied anno agwo silioñho ufied alanyie iguok, ade agwo sili ilioñhoke ase fefehe ufied adok ikot, meaning – if you use a proverb to him who knows, he would know, but a proverb to the uninitiated would make him run into the bush.

Literature Overview What some scholars have said about proverbs and education in Anaang and other traditional societies in Africa and in will be discussed in this section. In communication for instance, Finnegan (1970:441) cited in (Adeiyongo, 2004) established that in some societies in Africa, such as among the Zande and Nanja, the proverb could be used by an individual as “comments for persuasion” in an esoteric manner so that it could either deliberately convey ambiguity or only a very few people could understand him. Bascom (1965:469) in his monumental research work on African folklore in general and on proverbs in particular has mentioned inter alia that: the proverb plays a major role in the traditional system of education by enforcing conformity to social norms. There is hardly any paraomiographer that has failed to notice or comment on this very important function of proverbs.

In the same vein, Essien (1978:36-38), echoing Hull (1922) states that “of all the forms assumed by Oral literature, proverbs contain the greatest educational impact”. Similarly, Loeb (1952:322), in his research among the Kuanyame and in part among the Christians reports that much of the teaching given the young is in the form of proverbs mainly because of their pithy nature as well as their memorability. Such proverbs are in the areas of law, ethics philosophy and religion (Adeiyongo, 2004:253-270). In East African societies, Raum (1940:214) carried out an observational research work and came up with the fact that: From fourteen when a child flies into rage, when he is recalcitrant or violates the code of etiquette, when he makes an ass out of himself, when he is cowardly, he hears his actions commented upon in the words of a proverb.

There is no doubt that such a comment is meant to correct such a child so that he would not repeat such a thing the next time as the proverb would have a lasting effect on him (Adeiyongo, 2004:253-270). In West Africa, proverbs also play a major or significant role in the education of the young in almost all the communities. According to Berry (1961:22) cited in Adeiyongo (2004:254). “Children are taught in proverbs and their educational function is nowhere better typified than in the Akan proverbs which says “a wise child is talked to in proverbs”. 108

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Bascom (1965:16) is in agreement with Berry after his own research work in which he observed a similar tendency in West Africa in the following words: What often seems to be…is the general educative role of proverbs. Proverbs often imply some general comments on the way people do or should do or should not behave. It is clear that the conveying of a people’s experiences and expectation can be performed in particular effective way through the use of proverbs. But more specifically, proverbs are cited by adults when instructing the children

In Nigeria, specifically among the Hausa communities, Tremearne (1913:108) noted that a great knowledge of proverbs by any individual is considered to be a very big asset. It is the same situation among the Igbo of whom Achebe writes that the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten (Achebe, 1958:5), while Ugonna (1974), after a comprehensive description of ilu (proverb), sums it up as a kind of mirror which reflects human experience. Nwadika (2009:4) sees proverb as a form of speech which is pregnant with meaning. More often than not, it confounds the unintelligent. In the same vein, the Daystar Press, Ibadan has observed that Yoruba proverbs teach “age-old wisdom” and are lessons in experience (Adekunle, 1985). A look at the Tiv traditional society enables scholars such as Adeiyongo (2000) and Bergsma (1970) to overtly state the role of proverbs in the Tiv Kingdom. For instance, Adeinyongo (2000:192) establishes that the Tiv believe that the most valuable legacy a man can bequeath to a child to enable such a child to steer his way through life is not corporal but is in terms of instructions that are wrapped in proverbs. On his part, Bergsma (1970) stated that: Tiv proverbs generally constitute an effective means of exercising social control and approbation. There are therefore, specific proverbs variously employed by the Tiv to validate, justify, and moderate people’s activities and behavior as well as the application of social pressure on members of the society.

In Ibibio traditional society, proverbs play a very significant role in the task of communicative and instructional levels of education. According to Essien (1978), a proverb is a powerful weapon in the lips of an Ibibio elder who intends to distract the attention of members of the community or through into confusion those of them who lead a life that is contrary to the norms of the society, because proverbs are easily detached from the prerogatives of the society within which it functions.

Coming to the use of proverbs in Anaang, this research work examines Anaang proverbs which address not only the youth but also teach adults how to bring up the young and make them to conform to Anaang and indeed Nigerian social norms in general. The importance of proverbs in and to a society cannot be overlooked because proverbs are vehicles via which the predominant properties of words or the hidden essence of words are conveyed and they go a long way in enriching a language. Proverbs put a seal of authenticity on speeches in particular and language in general.

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Due to the high premium which the language and its users place on proverbs, it is pertinent to look at Anaang proverbs from the view points of definition, origin and derivation, users, functions and classifications

Proverb: A Definition In fact, Umoh (2009:xii) puts forward his stance about proverbs when he defines the proverbs in the following words: they (proverbs) are ancestral rubber stamps. Ancestors used proverbs to synergize the community’s social, political, religious and day-to-day order; to enhance a positive new world structure. As such proverbs are a manifestation of the natural wisdom and ingenuity as well as knowledge born of experience.

Proverbs are bearers of our traditional wisdom from which they are equally born. They are transmitters of the words of life and the conduit of ancestral raison d’être. Proverbs are cultural tools and are therefore always contextual in nature. This implies that if one is not well versed in the tradition and culture driven by the proverbs in question and out of which the proverbs are born, one would completely be at sea with regards to their applications, significances and meanings notwithstanding the fluency with which one can communicate in the said language matters. Proverbs establish and assure a continuous link with the primordial times, connecting individuals and societies perpetually with their ontological, cultural, religious heritage or lineage. Good proverbs fit perfectly into the situations they describe. They are apt, and get to the core of the issue right away and without delay and thereby reduce long and boring speeches or volumes. Udondata (2006:18) captured in a clear limelight, the import of these orally literary devices in a rhetoric and persuasive speech in these words: Proverbs are popular symbolic sayings having surface as well as underlying meanings. They are parts of the speech of the culture of the Anaang people. Popular speeches are wrapped in proverbs which are always drawn from day to day observances in the cultural milieu of the people. Proverbs serve as ingredients in Anaañ rhetorics.

An Anaang man who is not well versed in the proverbs of his people is often compared with or regarded as a local pear that does not contain any seeds in it and does not become darken (a feature of a mature fruit) largely because it was absent at the meeting the day seeds were distributed. Hence, this proverb: “Eben andi di isikaha afe usen edemeke nkua ase abire akpong”, meaning - The pear that fails to attend regular meetings always misses out the day seeds are distributed and so does not bear mature fruits. If one claims to be fluent in speaking without a concomitant application of the people’s highly valued proverbs, it means that he is like a man who pretends to love his concubine’s child by using the back of his palm to wipe mucus off his nostrils: “Idehe ne mma njen udor ade nqwoko mkpo ke elem ubok”, meaning- Using the back of the palm to wipe off mucus from the nostrils of the concubine’s child is not a mark of lovely affection but hypocrisy. Fr. Matthew Hassan Kukah (2001:14) highlights the efficacy of a contextually- based proverb in these lines:

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We often remember those times when in conversations, we would find ourselves stuck midway in a sentence, especially while narrating a story and for want of better expressions, we are compelled to say: “this cannot be translated into English” Proverbs come to our rescue in such contexts”

A true elder in Anaang is known at village squares or during public gatherings when he stands up to deliver a speech or addresses the public. Such addresses are enlivened and invigorated by appropriate wise sayings which are reproduced through proverbial mediums. In fact, in Anaang land, if a youth starts speaking in proverbs like an elder, the elders themselves would remark: ajop afon efang ese liongho idaha adehe uten, meaning, a palm tree that would produce good fibres at mature age is usually seen during its seedling stage; and/or Unen ansiwo ide akiko ese elioño ke anyong akom, meaning: a chick that will eventually grow into a cock is recognized on a roof top, even at that primal stage. Or such a youth would simply be called or described as Ajen ekambea agwo, meaning: he is a child of an elder. Proverbs in Anaang are not common place or heard on every lip, those who can use them are pearls of great value to our traditional society and people would not mind crossing many rivers in search of them like the biblical queen of Sheba traveling far to listen to the wisdom of Solomon. To acquire this wisdom, one must not only get closer to its source, but must devote a particular interest in it and also submit to its exigencies.

Proverb: Origin and Derivation It is not out of place for one to ask a question as to where proverbs reside or where proverbs come from. Or still, where can proverbs be located? The answers to these questions are simply. It has been observed that phraseology of many of our proverbs has been influenced by our natural environment which in turn influences our cultural attitudes and systems of values (Obiefuna, 1978). Anaang proverbs are drawn from the wide gamut of Anaang cultural experience which include folklores, belief systems, values, attitudes, perception, emotions and the entire system of thought and feelings (Finnegan, 1976:422). These are few instances: - (a) Unam anyongho mfin, mkpong asook ade ikot, meaning, if the game escapes today, tomorrow is another hunting day. This proverb is a re-assuring word to a hunter who couldn’t kill a game today but should be convinced that he would do better the next day. This arose from hunting experiences which are pan Anaang. (b) Se ebot akud adop ujo akpon akan se unen akud aruaiya, meaning, What the goat sees and keeps silent is greater that what the fowl sees and cackles. This perhaps arose from biblical allusion that one should be fast to see than to speak. (c) Abook ajen agwo aboo anno aninyie sade ijaak amakpon ima anyong ekamba ngwooñ, meaning, a fish is found in the shallow waters when it is young but returns to the big water body at maturity. (d) Agwo ilim abenne ase atuutun ajiem se amum, meaning, A drowned person desperately holds tight to anything that comes his way.

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(e) Ema ebaak anyie mkpo afere, mkpo afere ase bo kibaak emmo. When the owner of the bonga fish is respected, the bonga fish claims the respect to itself. This is typical of the fish producing communities in Anaang. It reflects the cultural attitude of the riverside towns and people that do a lot of fishing who will have proverbs connected with their environmental lifestyle. (f) Aka inwang ugwene ase aloloro ejo. He that goes late to farm must work under the scourge of the sun. (g) Ama fon alo nangha inam, aboiyo ifo (akpa iliok nangha). If it is good with a hard worker, his lazy friend benefits from his hard work. (h) Agwo ekopo mbuk ujai ifono ekut ku unyongho nkang atuk. A woman whose story of beauty is heard abroad needs not be seen on her return from work in a charcoal-based farm. In the hinterland where people carry out arable farming, many of their proverbs are related to the type of life, attitude and commitment to farm duties by members of the family. This is why people go to farm early to cover wider grounds before the scurge of the sun begins to affect performance. (i) Ebok akebo jak eka nwan ibaka idaha emmo isanghake ikpong mi, ke ima idok anwa unek ke anye iboho idiongho emmo aba sade ke akpaimo mmimo inyenghe uto iso keed; meaning, A monkey once told his mother-in-law to decorate him in isolation because when he joins his brothers in the dance arena it would be hard for her identify him for the decoration of his son-in-law. Things are better done when it should be done and timely too, as procrastination is an enemy of good deeds. If the monkey’s mother-in-law heed the monkey’s instruction and decorated him, it would not have mistaken and decorated some other monkey in the stead of its son-in-law. (j) Mbon udiong ammuto ijaka ajid iliongho ilad aba, The Motor mechanics do not allow us to know the mad people. (k) Ekuwe ase abong akam aboko afia utere, meaning, The chameleon escapes from the vulture’s traps through persistent prayers. (l) Ikwot ikilionghoke iwo ke ngwoong ade uto iba, ufiop ne nleleng, meaning, the toad does not know that two types of water exist; cold and hot. The linguistic interplay is that mad persons are known for their dirty rags, but in recent times, motor mechanics have assumed the posture of mad people by the manner of their dressing and very often they are mistaken for the mentally deranged. The same goes for the chameleon which changes according the colour of its immediate environment. The ability to change as occasion serves makes it difficult for the vulture to sight it and makes it a prey of the time. (m) Etok ajen amatop ufied ete ammo aseketop, ana anye abenghe idem sekpe isoñ ete ammo akamake mbon agwo, sade keanye anek unek akedibe isong ete, meaning, if a child cites the proverbs his father cited, let him pay the debts owed by his father, because by his wisdom, listeners now know him to be the son of their debtor. This is one of the ways of telling the minor who is believed not to be fully capable of following intelligently in discussions dominated with proverbs to wait and grow in wisdom until he is mature enough to cope with proverbial situations, for while he 112

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may be reciting them by rote, he is not yet capable of following intelligently when others use proverbs in different situations (Nwadike, 2009:27). (n) Ajen anni liluaka ilu uwom ase awo eka akook utia njen-uruñ ino, meaning, A child that is unwilling to live demands that the mother makes him a bow out of a pestle. (o) Akpan Udo Egwoi achon echid akook alook atia ejaka agwod, afo anyie mfana ne anye, ande timi umoko fien anyen, afukomo awasi? meaning, if Akpan Udo Ekwoi who cocked his gun, and shot at his own brother now has a case with you but rather chooses to merely look at you with contempt, wouldn’t you thank your God? (p) Nde nteliok aran ifono se agwo atop itiat, meaning, You don’t throw a stone where oil is kept or preserved. The semantic overtone, as the native Anaang believes is that a child that is not ajen esien emana, an obanje, or abiku will not compel the mother to make a bow out of a pestle for it, but since it was not willing to live, it challenged the mother to do the impossible. The Anaang people further propound a counter proverb which says that instead of being a mother to amana akpa ajen, obanjae or abiku (born to die type of a child), it is better for her to remain barren as in Utuk ke aman akpe ajen, jak ne ntie ada. Among the , and Ika native speakers of Anaang, there is this popular proverb which a lot of the elders make use of whenever they intend to advise their people. Also, a thorough observation of the dictions that constitute the sentential feature of this proverb (o) indicate wickedness, violence and heartlessness. The proverb therefore, instructs people to be careful in dealing with a people like the proverbial Akpan Udo Ekwoi, who has the heart to have cocked his gun, shot and killed his blood brother and who merely uses the corner of his eyes to look at an offender without making a move to kill him like he did his own brother. That is the more reason such an offender should be thankful to God. Like the English Proverb says “if you live in a glass house, don’t through stones”, the Anaang equivalence of this proverb is what we have in proverb (p), Nde nteliok aranifono se agwo atop itiat, meaning, You don’t throw a stone where oil is kept or preserved. Oil is a costly commodity and so the Anaang people who are major producers of this product both subsistent and commercial scales attach much value to it, and so have evolved a proverbial maxim to instruct and warn people who might become careless as to throw stones where this product is kept. Apart from this, the proverb also functions to advise or caution people to be careful in their dealing with such a people as in-laws, grand children, bosom friends so as not to commit abominable acts against the gods of this relatedness.

Functions of the Anaang Proverbs Every Anaang proverb or group of proverbs has a function to perform. No proverb is cited in isolation of life or for “citing sake”. Each proverb in its own genre has something to underscore such as caution, praise, encouragement, dissuasion, children’s upbringing, self-control, thrift-fullness, hard-work, etc. Anaang proverbs perform a variety of functions, but the prominent ones are the following:

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- Proverbs are employed in communication for the purpose of embellishment and reinforcing the power of argument (Egudu, 1977). - Proverbs form a mnemonic device in societies in which everthing worth knowing and relevant to the day-to-day life has to be committed to memory (Obiechina, 1978). - Proverbs are also used by people to safeguard and enforce morality as they contain practical rules for the guidance of the individual in the society in which he lives (Malinowski, 1945:29). - Proverbs function as an artistic device for giving complexity to narrative, unity of form, coherence and pattern to action, and direction to moral and social insight. They can also indicate force and resourcefulness of character: the strong mind can manipulate the repertory of proverb to its own advantage (Obiechina, 1978:157 cited in Nwadike, 2009:29). - Proverbs function to exclude others from conversations or topics which they are not wanted. In this case, no matter how versed one is in proverbs, a proverb cited in place of ordinary language, can easily displace one from gaining an insight into what had passed before or during the course of the conversation.

Summary In the course of taking a look at the communicative and instructive roles played by proverbs in Anaang language use, we have found that the task of creating or selecting from the repertoire and/or assigning it appropriately to speech acts and situations have many dimensions to it. This is to say that proverbs do more than just being created and applied by an individual user because they tell long stories with all brevity. Proverbs also serve as the peoples’ ancestral aggregation of their historical and socio-cultural as well as global ethicality. Proverbs authenticate a peoples’ distinctiveness as a group. As could be seen, the proverbs in Anaang are by no means exhaustive. What has been done here is merely building up the framework on which more flesh could be attached. This is a tip of the iceberg. As a result of insufficient space, there is no separation of the proverbs into compartments for convenience sake because proverbs are flexible, and one proverb can play different roles in portraying the peoples’ thoughts.

Conclusion In this paper, we have tried to explore the use of proverbs as a means of communication and instruction in traditional Anaang society. Although we have scanned the wider horizons of Anaang proverbs, we believe that more ‘revelations’ will be made in the future as more researches are carried out into Anaang oral literature. This is because their significance both as a tool for communicative and instructional adornments as well as a distilled package of wisdom from our forbears cannot be overflogged, it then behoves us as native speakers, teachers, students and lovers of Anaang language and literature, to leave no stone unturned to ensure their collection and preservation in written form. Anaang proverbs do not only paint cultural images, feelings and thoughts but they project the distinctive ethnolinguistic identity of the Anaang people and society.

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