Semantic Intersections in the Proverbial Sayings of Al-Mutanabbī and Yoruba Proverbs: An Approach to Comparative Paremiology and Shared Cultural Values

Abstract

Despite the growing interest in comparative paremiological studies, the semantic relationship between Arabic proverbial expressions and African oral traditions, particularly Yoruba proverbs, remains underexplored in academic scholarship. This study examines the semantic intersections between the proverbial sayings found in the poetry of Abu al-Tayyib Al-Mutanabbi and twenty-seven selected Yoruba proverbs. It aims to identify the shared cultural and human values reflected in both traditions, including wisdom, courage, patience, social ethics, and human conduct.
The study adopts a comparative semantic and cultural approach based on comparative paremiology to analyze similarities and differences between the two traditions. Through textual analysis, the research reveals significant convergence in imagery, moral vision, and proverbial wisdom despite the geographical and linguistic distance separating Arab and Yoruba cultures. The findings demonstrate that both traditions express universal human experiences and preserve collective cultural consciousness through concise and memorable proverbial discourse.
The study concludes that comparative paremiological analysis contributes to intercultural understanding and broadens the scope of comparative literary and cultural studies.