Proverbial Lore and Word-Play of the Fulani

Africa ◽  
1957 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Arnott
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
Oral Literature ◽  
General Study ◽  
Word Play ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Tongue Twisters ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Selection Of

Opening ParagraphThe wit and wisdom of the Fulani, as of other African peoples, are expressed most characteristically in their proverbs and riddles. Their proverbs are amply illustrated by the collections of H. Gaden and C. E. J. Whitting, and a selection of riddles appeared in a recent article in Africa by M. Dupire and the Marquis de Tressan. But there are other types of oral literature—both light and serious—which various writers have mentioned, without quoting examples. So Mlle Dupire refers to formes litteraires alambiquées and ritournelles des enfants bororo, and G. Pfeffer, in his article on ‘Prose and Poetry of the Fulbe,’ speaks of jokes and tongue-twisters. The aim of this article is to present some examples of these types of proverbial lore and word-play—epigrams, tongue-twisters, and chain-rhymes—which were recorded, along with many more riddles and proverbs, in the course of linguistic research during a recent tour of the Fula-speaking areas of West Africa, and to consider their relation to proverbs and riddles. These types of oral literature are of course by no means peculiar to the Fulani, and a number of the examples here quoted may well have parallels in other languages of West Africa or farther afield. But an examination of such pieces in one language may perhaps contribute something to the general study of this kind of lore.

1787–1887–1987: reflections on a Sierra Leone bicentenary

Africa ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Fyfe
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Forest Belt ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Language Pattern ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphSeen in the widest perspective, 1787 is only one date among the uncounted tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of years during which the present Sierra Leone has been inhabited. Archaeologists have done disappointingly little work there. But it is clear from their findings (and by implication from findings in the rest of forest-belt West Africa) that people have lived there a very long time. Though traditional historiography always tends to present the peoples of Sierra Leone as immigrants from somewhere else, the language pattern suggests continuous occupation over a very long period. As Paul Hair (1967) has shown, there has been a striking linguistic continuity in coastal West Africa since the fifteenth century. Nor is there evidence to suggest that before that period stability and continuity were not the norm.

scholarly journals Conscientiousness as a Predictor of Relative Longevity

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Felix Uchechukwu Udoh ◽  
Aloysius C. Anyichie
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Correlation Analysis ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Pearson Product Moment Correlation ◽  
Anambra State ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
The People ◽  
Selection Of

<p>This study examined the Conscientiousness domain (of the Big-Five Inventory [B5]) and its facets as predictors of Relative Longevity (RL). Its methods of investigation involved the administration of the B5 to a sample of 350 people from Anambra State (of Nigeria, West Africa) who had RL. These participants were drawn from the representative towns of the three senatorial zones in the State. Stratified sampling technique was employed in the selection of the respondents. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation analysis and Multiple Regression analysis were used in data analyses. The results of the research indicated that there was no significant correlation between Conscientiousness domain and RL. However, its (Conscientiousness) facet (of Thorough) correlated significantly with RL. Besides, Conscientiousness did not predict RL, but its facets (Thorough, Reliable, Organized, and Goal-directed) were found to be significant predictors of RL. The study’s conclusion is that although Conscientiousness was neither a correlate nor a predictor of RL among the people of Anambra State, some of its Facets were (correlate and/or predictor/s).</p>

Animal Marauders and Family Morality in Africa

Africa ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aylward Shorter
Keyword(s):  
Human Mind ◽  
Oral Literature ◽  
The Real ◽  
Real Value ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphSurprisingly few Africanists are interpreting the oral literature of Africa using the conceptual tools fashioned by Lévi-Strauss. This article attempts to use some of his ideas in analysing eight etiological stories told by the Kimbu of Tanzania. The aim is not to emulate the master in his search for the innate structuring capacity of the human mind, but rather to set the sights lower, and to decide what is the real value of these stories to the Kimbu themselves. This can be done by distinguishing the various codes which the stories represent, following out their transformations, and discovering what message or messages they communicate. In all of this it has to be understood that we are dealing with what Lévi-Strauss calls ‘objectified thought’ and with empirical categories, and that we are not concerned with how men think in myths but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact.

Craft Organization in Yoruba Towns

Africa ◽  
1953 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Sewing Machine ◽  
Western Economy ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
People Today ◽  
Economic Agreement ◽  
Window Frames

Opening ParagraphEverywhere in West Africa contact with Western economy has brought changes in the technology of the indigenous people; today, side by side with the old man chipping away at a block of wood, making an image or a mask, and the weaver with his horizontal loom producing yard upon yard of narrow cloth strips to be sewn together into huge, flowing robes, sit the tailor making khaki shorts on his treadle sewing-machine and the carpenter nailing together planks for doors and window frames. In the traditional craft industries a father hands on his knowledge and skill to his sons; thus some crafts become the preserve of certain lineages. The sudden impact of the new technology did not give the craftsmen an opportunity to adapt their work to the new machines and tools; new men were recruited who had never been craftsmen and thus today the numerous tailors, carpenters, builders, and their like are not related to their fellow workers by blood ties; but, independent as these workers may appear, they are usually united to their fellow craftsmen by bonds of economic agreement whereby their work is strictly regulated. This study will attempt to describe the organization of the traditional crafts in some Yoruba towns and to show how the new crafts have formed guild organizations which preserve many of the functions of the older craft organization, but have a structure based not upon the lineage but upon the territorial divisions of society.

scholarly journals Dynamic Selection of Optimal Sub-portfolio - Application in the Regional Stock Exchange of Securities in West Africa (BRVM)

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seydina I. Dione ◽  
Salimata G. Diagne ◽  
Dethie Dione ◽  
Youssou Gningue
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Dynamic Selection ◽  
Selection Of

Patterns of Authority in West Africa

Africa ◽  
1951 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Brown
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Political System ◽  
West African ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
Comparative Review ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Size And Structure

Opening ParagraphThe development of large centralized states in West Africa has long been recognized. The complexity of organization of the few well-known kingdoms, but not their differences in size and structure, is constantly emphasized in the literature. The number and variety of West African groups which have not developed states have, on the other hand, frequently been underestimated. In a comparative review by Professors Fortes and Evans-Pritchard two types of political system, centralized and segmentary, have been described for Africa as a whole, with examples of each in West Africa. A survey of West African societies suggests, however, that finer distinctions are possible and that not all these societies can be placed in one or other of these two categories. In particular, this classification omits consideration of ‘stateless’ societies in which associations, rather than a segmentary lineage system, regulate political relations; and it fails to distinguish different types of authority and political structure in states.

Kinship, Emigration, and Trade Partnership among the Lebanese of West Africa

Africa ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuad I. Khuri
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Greek Orthodox ◽  
Kinship Structure ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Kinship Ties ◽  
Upper Volta

Opening ParagraphThis article describes the kinship structure of some Lebanese communities in West Africa, and the resemblances they bear to the communities from which they originated in Lebanon. It also shows the extent to which kinship ties promote emigration, and the kind of trade partnership normally practised by kinsmen. Two communities are considered: the Greek Orthodox community in Ouagadougou (Upper Volta), and the Shi'ite Muslim community in Magburaka (Sierra Leone).

Praise Poems as Historical Data: the Example of the Yoruba Oríkí

Africa ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bolanle Awe
Keyword(s):  
Historical Data ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Oral Literature ◽  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
General Acceptance ◽  
Rich Variety ◽  
History Of ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphThe importance of oral traditions in the reconstruction of the history of non-literate peoples has virtually ceased to be a matter for debate and is now generally acknowledged. Indeed, within the last few years, historical research, based on such traditions has made possible histories of many societies in Africa. But in spite of this general acceptance, the diversity of oral traditions has not been so fully recognized as to make possible the analysis of each type as historical data. In this regard, the history of the Yoruba provides a good example. Their culture has accumulated around it a rich variety of oral traditions whose study has made significant contributions towards the understanding of their past. For the earlier period of their history, their historians have had to rely mainly on oral traditions; even for the latter period, in spite of the existence of written documents, oral traditions have still proved very useful in giving a balanced view of events. The tendency, however, has been for the historians of the Yoruba people to regard oral traditions as no more than personal recollections and generalized historical knowledge. In the main, they have failed to give cognizance to oral literature; experience elsewhere, however, has shown that a meaningful utilization of oral traditions in historical reconstruction cannot afford to neglect this third category, which is for historians of non-literate societies what literature is for the cultural and social historians of literate societies. Moreover, the Yoruba themselves treat some forms of oral literature as quasi-historical records.

Social Administration of the Kru. A Preliminary Survey

Africa ◽  
1937 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Scudder Mekeel
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
West African ◽  
Preliminary Survey ◽  
The South ◽  
North West ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Archaeological Work ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Physical Type

Opening ParagraphThe Kru, a West African Negro group, inhabit the central and southern part of Liberia. They are surrounded by the Basa peoples to the north-west, by the Grebo to the south-east and by the Putu to the north-east. The informant, Thomas Tarbour (Sieh Tagbweh), from whom the following material was derived, was a native of Grand Cess (Siglipo), a large coast town near the border of the Grebo country. The Kru, along with other related groups in that part of West Africa, have a tradition of having migrated from far to the north-east. The physical type is that of the short, stocky Bush negro. No archaeological work has been done in the region, and such ethnological material as has been collected is a mere beginning.

Sheep and Sheep-Herders in South Africa

Africa ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 432-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Willcox
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Hair Sheep ◽  
South West ◽  
South West Africa ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphIn a recent paper Mr. C. K. Cooke, F.S.A., discusses the questions of the introduction of sheep into Africa and their arrival in southern Africa (Cooke, 1965).Mr Cooke quotes Zeuner's conclusion (Zeuner, 1963) ‘that the first sheep in Africa were screw-horned hair sheep from Turkestan or Persia which reached lower Egypt about 5000 B.C. and Khartoum by 3300 B.C. This breed disappeared with the Middle Kingdom when it was replaced by a wool sheep and the fat-tailed sheep reached Africa only from the Roman period.’ Zeuner further asserts thatOne breed of sheep descended from the Egyptian hair-sheep had reached South-West Africa before the arrival of the Europeans. In these animals the profile is convex, the eyes are placed high on the skull and close to the drooping ears. The rams carry thick horns and a long ruff on the throat.

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