This thesis is a study of the proverbs of the nmampurusi in Northern Ghana. The Imampuruli language belongs to the Mole-Dagbani group. The power of the chiefdom of nmampurugu was greater than it is now, and is still declining. This work first tries to assess the importance of oral art and especially of proverbs in African culture. There follows the discussion of practical fieldwork methodology and some linguistic notes on the vernacular in which the collection has been made. The collection itself is a selection from 4,000 proverbs, leaving out repetitions and variants. It gives the vernacular text with a free translation, and more or less detailed explanations to show the meaning and possible context of each proverb. There are cross references and indications of frequency of occurence. The last part is devoted to a commentary on the collection. The main conclusion is that, because of the basically dynamic nature of the proverbs, no static analysis can ever be adequate. Consequently the work provides some preliminary indications towards a discovery of generative rules operating in proverbs within the semantic, structural, social and valuational dimensions, with examples from the text. The conclusion is that these proverbs cannot be studied in a detached way but that one must enter into dialogue with them.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:478773 |
| Date | January 1977 |
| Creators | Plissart, Xavier Joseph Marie Bernard |
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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