Mánàárẹ
Sísọ síta
Ìtumọọ Mánàárẹ
Why don't you believe in yourself (and not say you have others on whom to depend)?
Àwọn àlàyé mìíràn
"The name, Mánáarẹ--a poor approximation that elides the complex tone glides to which the Roman alphabet is deaf--cannot but catch my attention because it recalls childhood memories of striking characters so named in Imuṣin, the Ìjẹ̀bú town in which I was raised, and also because it is not in standard, Ọ̀yọ́ centered, dialect of written Yorùbà. In Ìjẹ̀bú dialect, the brave hunter's name is a shortened form of a longer admonition to those who are unnecessarily exuberant about (or reliant upon) social connections, "mánáárẹ, kó fọ́ wo nọ́ni." The poetry of the sentence follows an ironic formulation. We can interpret it roughly as "shouldn't you claim your own self first before boasting of your access to others." Of course, it could also be used to put down a boisterous rival." - Professor Adelékè Adéẹ̀kọ́
Ìtúpalẹ̀ Mọ́fímù
má-ní-ara-rẹ
Ìtumọ̀ ẹyọ-ẹyọ
má - do not [used ironically]ní - own
ara - body
rẹ - yours
Agbègbè
Ó pọ̀ ní:
IJEBU