Literal and Contextual Meanings Explication of Selected Ekiti Proverbs and their English Equivalents

Implication for Pedagogy and Language Preservation

Abstract

Proverbs are metaphorical statements that express simple truth. Many studies have been done on proverbs. But the most common trend among these scholars is to investigate the interpretation and translation of some proverbs from one language into another. Also, majority of these works are on major languages, neglecting the fact that some dialects of these major languages also have proverbs that are exclusive to them. Proverbs serve as a vital repository for preserving the dialects and major languages, providing a window into the cultural heritage and linguistic diversity of a country. This study, therefore, examines the literal and contextual interpretation of selected Ekiti proverbs, with a view to determining the proverbs equivalent to some English proverbs or idioms. The study adopts the notion of contextual and literal implication of meaning. This is due to the appropriateness of these two concepts on meaning explication in a language. Fifteen Ekiti proverbs were purposively selected, from thirty randomly sampled Ekiti proverbs. The findings reveal that Ekiti proverbs are also used to perform some actions just like proverbs and idioms from the English language as well as other Nigerian major languages. Some of the functions these proverbs perform are: stating, informing, cautioning, warning and advising.