Les Proverbes Egbema, Formes Et Leçons: Une Traduction Trilingue (Egbema-Anglais-Francais)

Abstract

This article explores the trilingual translation of Egbema proverbs beginning from the Egbema language, through English to French. These proverbes belong to the Egbema kingdom, Egbema people and Egbema land, known as Alinso. As fixed expressions, they exist in many forms and they teach interesting and fundamental lessons just as we have presented them. Generally, proverbs are language models containing fixed traits and features. They are metaphorical expressions of a variety of experiences in life. They are also mirrors of a people’s cosmology. The objective of this article is first, to demonstrate the possibility of translating proverbs from one language to another irrespective of the difficulty. It serves also our purpose of demonstrating and illustrating the language of our fatherland in recognition of the efforts of our people, our authors and intellectuals. Again, our objective is to bring and share our experiences in translation with other learners and students of translation. In Fact, translating Egbema proverbs to different European languages is intriguing but possible thanks to the use of equivalence and other techniques of translation. Our priority is to maintain the context and other cultural nuances which form the basis of these proverbs. Truly, proverbs are integral parts of the vocabulary of a language. They enrich the language and advance the intelligence and knowledge of a people.

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