HAUSA 101

Welcome again, class. Your Professor is back. I know, I know! You missed me. I know! Settle down, settle down! Make una settle down na! Ah! Good! I am pleased to announce to you that I have procured a special set of disciplinary tools: a 2-by-2 and a finely twisted koboko. *(Chuckles evilly.)* Don't be afraid. If you behave yourselves, I wouldn't have to use it. *(Winks.)* Anyways, let's get to it. Class rep, clean the board please. Today, we'll be talking about **proverbs**. We know 'em. We love 'em. *(At least I do.)* Timeless, age-old pieces of wisdom echoed from times ancient, carried on by the flow of time and the transmission of generations. *(Take note: this absolutely not grammatically overdone sentence will be asked of you in your exams.)* Wisdom dressed up in the language of metaphor. Proverbs are some of the hardest literary bars you'd ever hear. A cross-cultural staple, proverbs are part and parcel of history and identity, each culture owning a rich, nigh-endless collection of its own unique sayings. So... let's talk about a few Hausa proverbs, shall we? Here's what I'll be doing: I'll give the proverb in Hausa, then I'll give a direct, word-for-word translation before giving a more meaningful translation. I'll start with a classic. **“Idan kunne ya ji, jiki ya tsira.”** A direct translation would be: **“If the ear hears, the body is saved.”** This one is very common. It appears all the time in everyday conversation. It's essentially an admonition to take heed, usually delivered after a warning or a speech. When a teacher warns of the consequences of failing to do assignments. When a parent informs a child of the dangers of bad company. When someone gives advice to another. So it's essentially another way of saying: **“You better listen.”** **“Abin da babba ya hanga a zaune, yaro ba zai hanga ba ko ya hau kan dutse.”** **“What an elder sees while sitting, a child cannot see even if he climbs a rock.”** Ah yes! The elders love this one. I can't count the number of times I've heard this one. It speaks of the foresight and understanding that can come with age and experience. I'm fairly certain almost every culture has sayings very similar to this. Elders are alike in every culture, reminding you how they know better because they've lived longer. A lot of times, they do. Sometimes, they don't. Since we're talking about the value of experience, here's another one: **“Da tsohon zaki ake farautar barewa.”** **“It is with the old lion that one hunts the antelope.”** Lmao. Old pipu sef. So basically, it means experience is valuable, and capability comes with longevity and experience. --- **“Zo ka ci tuwo ya fi tuwo daɗi.”** **“Come and eat tuwo” is sweeter than tuwo.** I like this one a lot. My driver says this one all the time. It's basically saying **the invitation means more than the feast**. For someone to remember you and invite you means more than the event itself. It means they care enough to include you and hold you in high enough regard to think of you. To be remembered. To be acknowledged. They mean quite a lot, don't they? It also speaks of sharing and the value of the sentiment behind it. Someone offering to share with you can mean more than whatever item they share. It speaks of sentimental value and how **the thought behind an action can matter more than the action itself.** “It's the thought that counts.” **“Idan ka ga gemun ɗan uwanka ya kama da wuta, ka shafa wa naka ruwa.”** **“When you see your brother's beard catch fire, wet yours with water.”** I like this one 'cos the imagery of a beard ablaze is funny lol. Anyways, it simply means you should learn from other people's misfortunes before they happen to you. Start wetting your beards oo before yours catches fire. Some of una no even get beard. Lmao. *(Strokes majestic goatee.)* **“Sai bango ya tsage, kadangare ke samun wurin zama.”** **“It is when a wall cracks that a lizard finds a place to live.”** Lol. Homeless lizard. This one speaks of exploitation and opportunism that weakness creates. Weakness reveals gaps that the opportunist can exploit. There are both positive and negative connotations to this. It can speak of ambitious opportunism: exploiting gaps in markets, research, or fields that have been underexplored in order to establish yourself and propel yourself forward. But it also speaks of malicious opportunism: taking advantage of people's weaknesses, insecurities and fears to exploit them. Yikes. Class, are we there?????? It's like some of you are sleeping. Maybe I'll have to put my new toys into good use. Anyways, next is: **“A hankali ake cin tuwo mai zafi.”** **“Hot tuwo is eaten slowly.”** Another funny imagery. I'm picturing a person rushing a plate of hot tuwo going *“Phooooo! Phooooo!”* with the hot morsel in his mouth. 😂 Anyways, this one speaks of patience when dealing with delicate matters. Important things—**hot things**—cannot be rushed. They are treated gently and with care. **“Komai nisan dare, gari zai waye.”** **“However long the night, dawn will come.”** This one is a personal favourite. It's very simple but very profound. It speaks of hope in times of hardship. It echoes sentiments similar to sayings like **“This too shall pass”** or **“There is light at the end of the tunnel.”** I'm sure versions of this idea exist in other cultures as well, because the finiteness of the night and the light that comes with dawn are experienced by all. Staying on the thematic thread of patience:**“Mai haƙuri yakan dafa dutse ya sha romonsa.”** **“A patient person can cook a stone and drink its broth.”** Simple. If you're patient enough, the impossible can become possible. If you play the long game, you'll see the fruits of your labour—and then some. **“Idan ka ga kura tana kuka, akwai abin da ya same ta.”** **“If you see a hyena crying, something has happened to it.”** Once again, the image is funny. Picture a crying hyena for a second. Lol. Be honest. You laughed. Hyenas are typically known to make that annoying “laugh-like” sound, hence the simile **“laughing like a hyena.”** So a crying hyena is strange and unusual. That is exactly the point of the proverb. Unusual behaviour typically happens for a reason. There must have been a cause. A hyena, which is typically associated with that strange laughing sound, isn't likely to be crying for no reason. **“Biri ya yi kama da mutum, amma ba mutum ba ne.”** **“A monkey resembles a person, but it isn't a person.”** Lmao. This one is just a funny way of saying **appearances can be deceiving**. Things are not always as they seem. *All that glitters is not gold.* **“Rashin sani ya fi dare duhu.”** **“Ignorance is darker than night.”** This one is self-explanatory. And to complement it, we have: **“Ilimi haske ne.”** **“Knowledge is light.”** These ones are very simple and straightforward. Not very poetic, perhaps, but sometimes wisdom doesn't need to dress itself up. **“Wanda ya shuka ƙaya, ba ya girbar fure.”** **“Whoever plants thorns does not harvest flowers.”** **GBAM!** Gbammer! Gbammest! You cannot sow bad seeds and expect to reap good fruit. E no dey happen like that. *(Actually, sometimes it does. Life no balance normally.)* **“Kowa ya shuka iska, guguwa zai girba.”** (Guguwa, as in Elic Guguwa? 👀) **“Whoever sows wind will reap a storm.”** Another **GBAM!** What you sow can return to you with greater consequences. It speaks of actions having repercussions—but not like Newton's action-reaction law oo. Instead of actions producing equal and opposite reactions, this speaks of consequences that can be **even greater than the original action.** Another simple motivational piece: **“Mai nema yana tare da samu.”** **“The one who seeks is close to finding.”** Seek and you shall find. Simple. I've heard this one like **16.325 billion times.** And I counted. **“Ba a san maci tuwo sai miya ta ƙare.”** **“You don't know who ate the tuwo until the soup is finished.”** This one is something a grandma will say. It's basically about how a person's true involvement may only become apparent once the consequences arrive. Basically, na when kasala don burst, you go know who dey involved. **“Idan kura ta ci nama, sai ta ga nama.”** **“When the hyena eats meat, it sees meat.”** Basically, this speaks about the persistence of temptation. Once you become accustomed to a particular temptation, you may continue pursuing it. Chai. It is well. *(I wish I could use my “It is well” sticker.)* **“Ba a yin tuwo da gari biyu.”** **“You cannot make tuwo with two different flours.”** This one is about commitment. Some situations demand commitment to one path. You cannot pursue two incompatible directions and expect them to somehow become one coherent path. **“Komai ya yi yawa, ya kan zama yawa.”** **“Whatever becomes excessive becomes problematic.”** I like this one a lot because it's a play on words. **Yawa** means plenty, while **yāwa** can mean troublesome/problematic depending on pronunciation and context. Same spelling, different pronunciation. Sounds familiar? When your coursemate asks about your result: **“Omo! Yawa dey ooo.”** It's the exact same *yawa* here. So when something becomes **yawa**—too much—it becomes **yāwa**—a problem. Get it? **Yawa yawa.** Get it?! **LESSONS** So, class, what have we learned today? **1. Listen.**Sometimes wisdom arrives as a warning before it arrives as a consequence. **2. Respect experience.**Age doesn't automatically make someone right, but experience can give someone perspectives you may not yet have. **3. Appreciate being remembered.**Sometimes the invitation means more than what you're being invited to. **4. Learn from other people's mistakes.**You don't have to burn your own beard to discover that fire is hot. **5. Recognise opportunity—but recognise exploitation too.**Every gap is an opportunity to build something. Not every weakness is yours to exploit. **6. Be patient.**Some things simply cannot be rushed. **7. Remember that hardship is temporary.**No matter how long the night lasts, morning comes. **8. Watch what you sow.**Your actions have consequences, and sometimes the harvest is bigger than the seed. **9. Seek knowledge.**Ignorance is darkness; knowledge is light. **10. Finally, remember that even good things can become bad in excess.**Because, as we have learned today: **Yawa yawa.** Classwork: Mention some of your favorite proverbs in your language. Class dismissed. I hope you all enjoyed the lecture. Say no and see if I no wipe you 2 by 2. Make sure you sign the attendance. **Sai an jima!** **Professor Farouq out!** *runs awayyyyyyyyy*

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