Jonathan Musere z' / - • V. . ' •"'TJ’.T— Boston Public Librarv W CD 00 O = lV9608Z I ^.?.6?6S EAN § African Proverbs and Names Proverbial Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation https://archive.org/details/isbn_096459692x_0 African Proverbs and Proverbial Names Jonathan Musere Ariko Publications Los Angeles Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication (Provided by Quality Books Inc.) , Musere, Jonathan. CD BR African proverbs and proverbial names / — Jonathan Musere. 1st ed. PN6519 G25 cm. . p. M87 1999 Includes bibliographical references and index. LCCN: 99-94370 ISBN: 0-9645969-2-X 1. Proverbs, Ganda-Dictionaries. 2. Ganda language—Etymology--Names. 3. Names, Personal- Ganda. I. Title. PN6519.G25M87 1999 398.9'963'957 QBI99-255 Codman Sq. Branch Library 690 Washington Street MA 071 ?j Dorchester, . 1999 DEC 2000 Ariko Publications All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reproduced in any form, except for the inclusion of briefquotations in a review or article, without written permission from the publisher or author. For information and additional copies contact the publisher: Ariko Publications 12335 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 155 CA Los Angeles, 90025 United States of America Printed in the USA by BP MORRIS PUBLISHING 3212 Last Highway 30 • Kearney. NE 68847 • 1-800-650-7888 Contents Introduction j Proverbs and Proverbial Names 8 References 19g General Index 99 \ Names' Index 203 Acknowledgments Permission for use of the Luganda-English Dictionary by John D. Murphy and Luganda Proverbs by Ferdinand Walser was acquired from the publishers Catholic University of America Press and Dietrich Reimer Verlag respectively. Many thanks to these and the several other sources that assisted in the assembling ofthis volume. Jonathan Musere Culver City, California February 1999 —Proverbs of the Baganda- Eyamikana ku mugendo, y'efuuka kaasa. The reddish-brown soldier ant that separates from the trail, is the one that becomes the black soldier ant which travels singly and bites more fiercely. Omuddo gw'oluyiira, n'atalina mbuzi agwegomba. The luxuriant green grass that grows following the slashing and burning, is looked forward to even by the one who does not own a goat. Omugano gw'enswa, mukadde tiguleka waka. A swarm of edible flying ants lures every elder to come out of the house. Kasakkya: n’ataayanike abuuza omusana. That the rain may let up for a spot of the sun: even the one that will not put anything out to dry asks about the sunshine. Omwogezi mutambuze; bw'akoowa, awummula. A talker is (like) a traveler; w hen he becomes tired, he rests. -Proverbs of the Baganda- Tuyinza okugamba nti buli budde era na bull wanlu Abaganda baabanga mu kuyigiriza bannaabwe. Kuba amannya mangi abantu ge beetuumanga era ne ge baatuumanga ebintu byabwe, ng'engabo, amafumu, emiggo, emmindi n'ebintu ebirala, gaabanga ga ngero. Bakabaka ennyumba zaabwe nabo baazituumanga amannya ga ngero. Maliwo n'ebyalo bingi ebyatuumwa amannya ag'eng'ero, okugeza: Bukalammuli, mu Ssingo; Kijjoomanyi, mu Buddu; Kisigula, mu Kyaddondo n'ebirala. ...Era nsuubira ng’abato ; n'abakulu bajja kusanyukanga nga banoonya amakulu g'engero...okufaanana nga ab'edda bwe baasanyukiranga okunoonya n’okuvumbula amakulu g’ebikokko. Ate era nsuubira nti abantu abalala bajja kuwandiika ebitabo ebirimu engero ennyingi okusinga eziri muno. Era mu abo mwe muliba abalifuba okuwandiika ebitabo ebinene nga bivvuunula amakulu g'engero zaffe gonna nga tegannabula. [We can say that all the time and everywhere, the Baganda were involved in teaching one another. That is since many of the names the people gave to themselves and also gave to what they owned such as shields, spears, canes, smoking pipes, etc. were based on proverbs. Kings gave their houses proverbial names. There are also many villages that were given proverbial names, e g. Bukalammuli in Ssingo, Kiijoomanyi in Buddu, Kisigula in Kyaddondo, and so forth. ...And I hope that both young and old will always become delighted as they search for the meanings in the proverbs...just like how those of the past delighted in searching for and finding out the meanings of the idioms. And I hope that other people will write books that contain many more proverbs than the ones that are in here. And among it is those that there will be some that will work hard at writing large volumes that explain the significance of all our proverbs, before the meanings get lost ] —Michael Bazzekuketta Nsimbi (Siwa Muto Lugero 1948) ,