BEYOND THE BOUNDARY OF AGE PROVERB VARIATION IN AGATULAND

Abstract

In the native wisdom of the Agatu people of Benue State, Nigeria, proverbs belong to the domain of the elders’ speech. That is,
there is an understood linguistic chasm between the older generation and the younger generation in matters of speech wisdom. Increasingly, with a gradual sense of rebellion, the younger people in Agatuland are also speaking in proverbs, often to the disapproval of the elderly ones who think proverbs should come naturally to a person as the person reaches that “age of speaking in proverbs”. What is of interest to this writer in the younger people’s attempt to speak in proverbs are the proverb variations that they consciously produce to suit the peculiarities of their generation. That is the crux of this paper.