Old Forms in Proverbs

1. Fixed words from long ago
Proverbs are passed down word for word. J. G. Christaller already collected 3,600 of them in 1879, and many are still said the same way. Because they are fixed, they keep older, shorter wording that everyday Twi has changed.

2. Contracted words
Tikoro nkɔ agyina (One head does not go into council) uses tikoro, an old contraction of eti koro (one head). It is also written Ti koro nkɔ agyina. See koro.

3. No article
Proverbs speak about things in general, so they usually leave out no: Ɔkɔtɔ nwo anomaa (A crab does not give birth to a bird) is about any crab. Adding no would make it about one particular crab.

4. Timeless verbs
Proverbs use the plain present and its negative for what is always true: nkɔ (does not go), nwo (does not give birth), nnim (does not know). See Timeless Truths in Proverbs.

5. Rare and special words
Some words are rare in everyday speech and live on mostly in proverbs and titles:

• yenkyi (it is not taboo) in Sɛ wo werɛ fi na wosan kɔfa a, yenkyi
• obrempɔn (a great man, a noble) in Obi nnim obrempɔn ahyɛase (Nobody knows the beginning of a great man)
• ɔbanyansafoɔ (a wise person) in Ɔbanyansafoɔ, yɛbu no bɛ; yɛnka no asɛm (A wise person is spoken to in proverbs, not in plain words)

The last one also shows bu bɛ, the verb for telling a proverb.

6. Quote them exactly
Say a proverb in its fixed form: do not modernize it or add articles. If a word is unfamiliar, look for a contraction or an old word, and learn the whole proverb as one piece. See Proverbs: ɛbɛ.