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The Yorùbá Animal Metaphors: Analysis, ADÉS.O.LÁ O

Articles in general of Ifa.

The Yorùbá Animal Metaphors: Analysis, ADÉS.O.LÁ O

	Publicado por ifagbemi	11 Oct 2006 1:17:pm

The Yorùbá Animal Metaphors: Analysis, ADÉS.O.LÁ O.LÁTÉ.JÚ Options

ADÉS.O.LÁ O.LÁTÉ.JÚ

University of Ibadan, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The paper undertakes a study of animal metaphors in the Yorùbá language with a view to highlighting the stylistic and communicative potentials of these metaphors.

To achieve the set objective, the animals – domestic and wild – involved in metaphors and their individual distinctive characteristic features that motivate their metaphorical interpretations are highlighted. The paper also discusses the sources of animal metaphors, which are said to be located in three areas, namely: the Yorùbá naming culture, animal characteristic habits and
behaviour, and the Yorùbá poetry.

In discussing the metaphorical processes involved in the interpretation of animal-related metaphors, a two-dimensional approach is adopted: stylistic and cultural. In the first, the semantic features of animals involved in metaphors are decomposed into semantic markers that are of two types. The first is the High Priority Semantic Markers (HPSM), which determine the cognitive/conceptual meaning of the metaphors, and the second is the Low Priority Semantic Markers (LPSM), which determine the secondary metaphorical interpretation. Animal metaphors involve transference of meanings, and whatever meanings or interpretations are assigned to a particular animal metaphor, are culture and context dependent.

The paper concludes with stylistic and communicative functions of animal metaphors, with the submission that stylistically animal metaphors contribute to aesthetics and poetic elegance of literary texts through their lexical tones, which can be stylistically manipulated. They are also being used as a new or additional mode of expression in both literary and routine communication.

Key Words: animal, domestic, wildlife, metaphor, and culture

1. INTRODUCTION

The Yorùbá of the South West Nigeria are a buoyant and resilient people with a vibrant language. The ord ‘Yorùbá’ refers to the people as well as their language. What appears to be the philosophic disposition of the Yorùbá to life,generally, is captured by Babalo..lá (1966) who describes the Yorùbá as people with:

…a zest for enjoying life while at the same time attaching great
importance to hardwork as the only guarantee of economic well-being.

About the Yorùbá language, he has this to say:

…Their tonal and metaphor-saturated language in its ordinary prose form is never far from music in the aural impression it gives and which has produced an extensive variety of spoken art characteristic of the people
(Babalo..lá 1966).

Two points relevant to this study that can be deduced from Babalo..lá’s description of the Yorùbá people are their “zest for enjoying life and hardwork” and their
“tonal and metaphor-saturated language”. For a proper understanding of the subject – matter of this paper therefore – it is appropriate to make reference to the
above Yorùbá philosophy-zest for enjoyment/entertainment and hardwork for economic goals.

In the Yorùbá pre-literate period, farming and hunting were the primary occupation and, even now, a greater percentage of the people are farmers and hunters. This is so because of their location that stretches between the rain and the Savannah forests. While the rich soil of the forests are suitable for the practice of agriculture, they are equally a good habitation for varieties of animals; small and big. It is, therefore, customary that in their daily activities as farmers/hunters, they come in contact with animals whose behaviour or characteristic traits they study and get acquainted with. These animals, some of which are killed either with gun or snares (traps) serve as sources of good tasty meat as well as a source of earning money. It is also a common practice that some of the animals are caught alive, tamed and domesticated. The animals in this category include the goat, sheep, cat,
pig, dog, tortoise, monkey, horse and a host of others. The wild ones found undomesticable are shot dead instantly and consumed as food or sold to make money. This class includes: the lion, leopard, snake, elephant, etc. As far as the Yorùbá are concerned, like other African people, the value of animals transcends food and economic gains. Some of the animals, especially the domesticated and
even the wild ones as well are veritable sources of joy, entertainment and relaxation. For example, the Yorùbá’s observation in the forest of the agility of ‘Ò.bo.’ (the colobus monkey) on the treetop; the aw-inspiring stature, tardiness and heavy treading walk of ‘erin’ (the elephant1); and the earth-digging prowess of Túùkú’ (the river hog) provide great amusement. The domesticated animals, which are of service or source of interest and fun for the Yorùbá, are the cat as pet, dog as pet for hunting and security, the horse as mark of royalty, stamina and entertainment, and the baboon/monkey also belongs to the category of animals that entertain2.

As a result of their close contact and keen observation, the Yorùbá have a sound knowledge of these animals – the habits, shape, food, etc. and these are well acknowledged and appreciated in their music and poetry. It is no surprise,

1 That wild animals like the lion, leopard and elephant are tamed and kept in zoological gardens in the modern day society is a great surprise to the Yorùbá who express the belief that such animals are beyond tame. One of such proverbs in which the belief is expressed is: ‘O.ba tó má a Mérin so kò tí j.’ which literary means ‘The king that will tame and domesticate the lion is yet to reign’.

2 These days, one finds in some Yorùbá major towns like Ibadan, a monkey or baboon being piloted from one place to another and made to dance and perform acrobatic display for money. Therefore, that information about the nature and characteristic traits and behaviour of animals form an essential part of some of the Yorùbá oral poetic genres, such as ori.ki., the Yorùbá praise poetry, I.jálá, the Yorùbá hunters’ poetry, and E..se.-ifá, the Yorùbá ifá divination poetry.

The focus of this paper, therefore, is a stylistic study of the animal-related metaphors in Yorùbá from a literary perspective. The scope of the study will cover only some of those animals within the Yorùbá climatic region and cultural milieu, which are found to have aroused great interest in them. The objective is to highlight the Yorùbá animal metaphors and the underlying philosophical
disposition of such metaphors. The approach is two-dimensional-stylistic and cultural (philosophic)3. Since metaphor is about language, a stylistic approach will
be used to explain the language elements of metaphor in order to bring out the meaning and aesthetic effects of the metaphors. To unravel the underlying philosophical disposition of the metaphors, the Yorùbá cultural attitude and psychology will be relied upon.

2. SOURCES OF ANIMAL METAPHORS

O.látúnji. (1984: 51) defines metaphor as a linguistic situation in which “an object, action or situation is described in a terminology proper to another”. However, a
proper understanding of animal metaphors in Yorùbá goes beyond a mere definition. The contextual situation or condition under which animal metaphors are used is of paramount importance. From a psychological point of view, the usage and understanding of an animal metaphor involves some perception of attitudes, experiences or dispositions of both the speaker and the addressee.
Unlike ordinary metaphors which people find relatively easier to understand, sometimes intuitively, as a result of regular usage, animal metaphors appear to be more difficult as most people, especially children under twenty years of age are confined only to the grasp of the literal meaning of the animal being metaphorically used as against their metaphorical interpretations. This obviously,
is due to their limited knowledge of the habits, physical characteristics and traits of each animal from which metaphors may be drawn. For example, when a child
is called or referred to as ‘e.ranko’ (animal) the meaning that is immediately available to him is [- human], only to discover later when being told or prompted that other meanings are possible, e.g. [stubborn; deserving beating with stick].

However, for an easy in-road to understanding animal metaphor in Yorùbá, knowledge of the factors – cultural and psychological – which form the sources of animal metaphor, must be taken into account. Such factors include the Yorùbá

3 The word ‘philosophy’ as used in this paper entails the Yorùbá general ways of life – their religion, names, food, music, poetry, social and religious ceremonies, thought processes, etc. as enshrined in their culture. In other words, the Yorùbá philosophy of life is embedded in their
culture.

Naming culture, animal behaviour and physical attributes, and the Yorùbá Ori.ki.
(praise poetry).

a. The Yorùbá Naming Culture

Among the Yorùbá, the names that a child is given are carefully considered as it is believed that the name that a person bears dictates his fortunes. Not only that, a
child’s name is meant to reflect his family history, their fortunes and misfortunes, hopes and fears as well as the circumstances of conception and birth of the child.
For example, the Yorùbá name ‘Adéye.mi..’, ‘Crown befits me’, presupposes that the bearer (the child) comes from a royal family and would one day ascend the throne of his fathers.

In the Yorùbá culture, human beings are not the only creatures that bear names. Names are also given to non-human creatures, such as domestic animals like dog, cat, goat, etc. which are kept as pets. Such names, as is usual with human names, also reflect the wishes, aspirations and reservations of the pet-owner. So, it is common to find a goat with such names as ‘káni..sùúrù’ (we-should-have
patience). Such a goat may for short be called ‘Sùurù’ (patience), a name which is expressive of the philosophy of the owner that patience has great value or reward.
Similarly, a dog may be given the name ‘Adú’, ‘that-which-is-black/black coloured’, a name which is descriptive of the colour of the dog, or ‘Ta-n-t’O..lo..run’, ‘who-is-like-unto-God’, a name that describes the Yorùbá philosophy of the incomparability of God. Other names that pets also bear include ‘Ìwà-lè.si.n’ (religion is conduct), ‘Kálé.ye.mi.’ (let-the-evening-be-prosperous-for me), etc.

One interesting aspect of the Yorùbá naming culture as regards pets or domestic animals is the use of such names as instrument of attrition employed by rival co-wives in a polygamous setting. A good illustrative example of this kind of scenario is found in a serial-play relayed on the Broadcasting corporation of O.y. state (BCOS) Television with the title ‘Bàtà Wàhálà’ (shoe-of-trouble) meaning ‘a
legacy of trouble’. The Television play highlights the bitter rivalry that always characterizes a polygamous home. In the play, a man follows the foolish steps of
his polygamous father by marrying as many wives like his father. Then, trouble begins as the wives are locked in bitter rivalry and vicious attack on one another.
Each of the rival co-wives, and even the husband, has a pet dog, goat or cat to which is given a name that is expressive of the animosity and ill-will that one co-
wife nurses against the other. For example, one of them names her dog ‘li.lo.-ni.-ó-lo’. (go-she-must), another one names her cat ‘E.wà-n-bi.-wo.n-ni.nú’ (beauty-
nauseates-them) and another names her goat ‘Jé.-n-ri.lé-gbé’ (leave-me-and let-me remain), while the eldest wife names her dog ‘Sùúrù-lérè’ (patience is rewarding).
Their husband also has a goat he names ‘Mé.é. - lO.lo..run-wi.’ (God-approves-of marrying-many-wives). So, whenever any of the co-wives comes into the sitting room with her pet and the pet is called, or addressed by the name given to it, the co-rival being referred to knows that the pet name is an indirect reference to her and she responds appropriately by bringing her own pet and doing the same thing.

Through the pets’ names, the rival wives pass uncomplimentary remarks to insult the sensibility of one another as the names have metaphorical insinuations. For
example, ‘Líló.-ni-. é.-l.’ (Go, you-must) is expressing the fact that other co-wives
must go; ‘E.wá-n-bíw.n-nínú’ (beauty-nauseates-them) is expressing the point that her beauty angers other wives, making them jealous; ‘Jé.-n-rile-gbé’ (allow-me-to-
remain-in-the-house) is pleading with the name that they should leave her to enjoy her matrimonial home. Their husband with his own pet’s name ‘mé.é.-l’O.l.run-wí’
(God-approves-of-many-wives), advocates that he has not committed any untowards acts by having many wives as God approves of polygamy. It is therefore, clear that in all the above cases, the names of the pets/domestic animals
are not just names but metaphors meant to abuse, harass and insult the sensibilities of a rival co-wife.

b. Physical Attributes and Characteristic Traits of Animals

The Yorùbá in their traditional occupation as farmers and hunters have contact with animals, whether as domestic animals or wildlife in the forest. The behavioural characteristics of the animals are well known and from them metaphors are formed when man/human beings are predicated of the actions and habits of the animals. For example, the cat ‘ológbò’ is well known and loved for
its friendly mien and curiosity; the sheep ‘agùtàn’ is known for its gentility or at times, its sheer stupidity; the goat ‘ewuré.’ for stubbornness; the horse ‘e.s.in’ for
stamina; the dog ‘aja’ for being an uncritical follower; while the pig ‘e.lé.dè.’ is hated for its dirtiness but loved for its high fertility. The monkey ‘o.bo.’ is loved for its agility but hated for its destructive and silly tendencies. For the wild animals in the forest, hunters come home from their hunting expeditions (games) to narrate their observation and experiences about the wild animals. Sometimes, they are fascinated by the physical appearance, beauty or gait of a particular animal. For
instance, the lion ‘kìnni.hu.n’ is admired and considered the king of the animals because of its glossy skin and the bushy crown like ring of hair around its neck; the deer ‘egbin’ for its beauty; the leopard ‘e.kùn’ with its beautiful spotted skin; the duiker ‘e.tu’ for its extremely broom-like thin legs and fantastic speed; the
elephant ‘erin’ for its aw-inspiring-gait; and the love of the colobus monkey for trees of great height. The physical attributes and characteristic cry, gait and habits
of these animals, as observed by hunters and farmers form the bases of the metaphorical allusions made to a particular animal, e.g.

the lion ‘kìnnìhún’ – for royalty and beauty because of its glossy skin

big rat ‘òkété’4 – for treachery

civet cat ‘e.tà’ – for sleepiness

dog ‘ajá’ – for sexual incontinence/promiscuity

c. Poetry

Poetry is another good source of Yorùbá animal metaphor. Whatever observation and/or experiences hunters have about animals in the forest are usually composed into poems of great aesthetic and rhythmic value; and are sung about. It is therefore customary to find in Yorùbá oral poetic genres of different kinds, such as I.jálá (the Yorùbá hunters’ poem), oríkì (the Yorùbá praise poetry) and e.se.-ifá (the Yorùbá ifá divination poetry), verbal salute to animals. In such poetic compositions, their admiration and love for the animals are expressed, while information is also given about the peculiar characteristic traits of each of the animals they have observed. For example, in the excerpt below from I.jálá chant, the elephant (erin) is being praised for its might, aw-inspiring gait and the high value of its tusks, skin and meat. The praise goes thus:

Erin lábá-owó, erin abi.kúnlè. pelemo.mo. (Babalo..lá 1966: 93, line 1) O’ elephant. Possessor of a savings-basket full of money, O’ elephant, huge as a hill, even in a crouching position.

Also in the excerpt below from I.jálá chant, the duiker (e.tu), a highly prized animal among hunters is being praised thus:

E.tu òtòn.pòrò lé.gàn (line 6)

Láji.nbú aláyà gbe..du (23)

A.ko..bi. baále. ògbómò.s.ó.5 (25)

(Babalo..lá 1966)

O duiker, the most highly prized in the forest

Láji.nbú whose chest skin makes a good royal (gbè..du) drum

The first-born of the baálè. (compound head) of Ògbómò.s.ó..

Here, the animal, duiker is being praised or hailed for its fleet of foot, its chest skin which is good for making gbe..du drum, a type of royal drum meant for kings alone, and for the natural linear mark on its face similar to the traditional royal 4 Some of the animals, e.g. the ‘rodent’ (òkété) and ‘.dun’ (colobus monkey) are claimed to have derived some of their characteristic attributes from the Yorùbá myths. See Abimbola (1976:
180).

5 Ògbómò.s.ó. is a Yorùbá town whose natives are well-known for their traditional facial marks,
especially the vertical one-stroke mark across the nose ridge. The town is about 80 kilometres
North of Ibadan, the O.y. State capital, Nigeria.

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