FUNCTIONS OF RIDDLES.

• Riddles are used in Instilling cultural norms to the people in the society.
• Riddles are used For social commentary and entertainment as most have humour and satire.
• Riddles are used in communication as a way of introducing, developing or concluding a lesson in a given subject area.
• Riddles are used to acquint the young mind of the participants with compact knowledge of the environment and socio-cultural activities of people.
• Riddles are used as an appetizer as they are performed before a narration begins.
• Riddles act as a record of change as it comes.

N/B:  Riddling accords one a chance to abuse and be abused without taking  offence. Thus, we can get egocentric riddles such as:-

         Challenge:  nikanini lakini mwenyu ndakasinda kiwi. (Kamba)

                          A small married woman who cooks better than your mother.

         Response:  Nzuki.

                           Honeybee