Our Elders Never Lie: The Metaphor Power Base of Proverbs among the Tonga Speaking People of Zambia And Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article seeks to explore ways through and extent to which the use
 of proverbs inspires confidence in the youth towards their elders in the
 African society in general and the Valley Tonga of Zambia and Zimbabwe
 in particular. The Achebean saying that ‘proverbs are the palm oil with
 which words are eaten,’ does not only point to the fact that proverbs make
 ordinary speech aesthetically pleasant to the ear but also that the wisdom
 contained therein is culturally/socially accepted. The effective and efficient
 deployment of proverbs in this regard earns the user respect from targets
 of his address. The article analyses various ways in which proverbs are
 incorporated in everyday speech and how these in turn, enhance chances
 of delivering the intended message successfully among the Valley Tonga
 communicators. In most cases, when a Tonga speaker wishes to delegate
 presentation of a complex matter to the proverb, they attribute the wisdom
 to the Tonga society of yester years. This tendency, the article concludes,
 removes personalities from the proverb while promoting objective analysis
 of the situation by those addressed. The article examines selected proverbs
 in terms of structure, pattern of usage, types of images/metaphors used
 and their expected impact. The article applies a triangulation theoretical
 framework of Appraisal, Ethnopoetics and Afrocentricity theories to
 delineate the communicative intent of the proverber. Together, the theories
 look at social functions of the language rendered by performers of the oral
 arts.