CHARACTERISTICS OF PROVERBS AND WISE SAYINGS

• Compact.

        Proverbs and wise sayings use the fewest words possible or we can say they conserve words.

Example.

Ja kuoth ki it (Luo)

     The gossip never ages.

They use few words as compared to normal speech where one could say that the person who is fond of gossiping takes a longer time before he gets old.

• Pithy.

        Pithy here means that the proverbs and wise sayings are full of vigor and meaning. In other words they have the ability to excite our imagination and give us an insight in a situation.

Example.

Ng’a mioro ema pielo chieth maduong (Luo)

Whoever goes for errand passes bigger feces.

Kwa mwendwa gutiri arima (kikuyu).

On the way to ones beloved there are no hills.

Due to this its interpretation depends on:-

• The observation of phenomena.
• Application of phenomena to a situation.

• Allusive.

                  They refer indirectly to history, stories and institutions, which are well known in the tradition. In other words they use language symbolically. Some are historical having base in the events that actually happened.

example   

 Ukabi ni muhunu mutu (kikuyu)

The Maasai have had their…full of flour

Esifuna omukasi osilia namayino (luhyia)

What a woman has harvested, you will not eat it in peace.

• Have folk wisdom

         They have hidden meaning. In most cases the intended meaning of proverbs and wise sayings is often different from the literal meaning of the words used.

Example.

 Mautye moset katwalet (kalenjin)

A monkey never forgets how to jump

          Mominchorimi tang’ana mosera ibu (ekegusii)

         He who walks in the dew is not the same as the one who warms

        himself in the morning.

• Informal.

         Proverbs and wise sayings are incorporated in most of our day-to-day conversations.

• Communal.

         Proverbs and wise sayings mostly apply within a given community, which in most cases is a tribe. This is due to the language used and reference to phenomena only to the community using them.

Example.

              Fulu bondo oro ngege (luo)

              Small fish can also send Nile perch.

                These (small fish and Nile perch) will only make impact to the Luos and fishing communities but not others.

                Muici na kihhi angaga kieha kiarua (kikuyu)

                He who lives with a boy will live in fear until the boy is circumcised. This also only appeals to the circumcising communities.