PREFACE
The arrangement of the proverbs in this edition is aimed at easy reading by both Igbo speaking and non Igbo speaking readers. Each proverb has an Igbo text, followed by an English text and an interpretation in italics. Despite an Igbo proverb that proverbs should not be interpreted, the author found it necessary here to interpret the proverbs for a global readership and understanding of the wisdom behind the proverbs.
As much as possible, the proverbs have been told in the dialect used popularly among Igbo people to tell them. There has been no attempt to use a particular Igbo dialect or to use any form of central Igbo dialect that may lead to loss of meaning, content and humor in the popular dialect. The dialects used here are derived from Isuikwuato, Aro Ndizuogu, Onitsha and slangs.
The proverbs have not been arranged in any particular order or category. This is a reflection of the role played by proverbs in the society where a proverb pops up in a conversation to clarify a dragging issue from an angle that throws surprise and humor into the conversation.
There has been an attempt to make the English text as close as possible to the original Igbo text. There are many Igbo expressions that cannot be interpreted into English without loss of meaning.
This slim volume of Igbo proverbs is better seen as a collection of urban proverbs. Most of the proverbs used here find applications in business, modern challenges, city life and humor. This is only a little collection from a huge vault of Igbo proverbs told over centuries in a myriad of dialects.
Uzoma Azuonye
August 2013, Kaduna Nigeria.