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Ariole Victor & Yusuff Ayo 17 

Translation of "Ogboju ODE ... ": 
A Critique in Trilingual Dimension 

readers both within and outside the African 
continent. Based on my translation, there have been 
others into Italian and French. 

That raises the obvious question - why has it 
taken me nearly half a century to translate another 
of his works? After all, the resolve - and challenge 
_ continued to hover round the lining of my skull... 
The real inhibiting factor for me however was, and 
still is - Fagunwa is not an easy writer to translate! 
When I set out to subdue the OGBOJU ODE with 
my self-assured literary armoury, it was to be a 
labour of love, a tribute to a writer on whose verbal 
pyrotechnics my generation had been weaned... I 
thought I could undertake the translation of his 
works sleepwalking, one hand tied behind my back, 
the other cradling a frothing calabash of palm-wine! 
Well, I leamt the hard way. After the unexpectedly 
tasking experience of struggling through that text, I 
came to the conclusion that I had better attend to my 
own writing - at least for some time - before 
attempting to tackle another product of that master 
of the Yoruba language! 

Ariolc Victor & Yusuff Ayo 
Department of European Languages 

University of Lagos 
Akoka, Lagos 

Abstract 
This paper, an initial work on trilingual translation critique _ 
Yoruba, English and French - aims at deconstructing and 
reconstructing reciprocally colonial languages' capacity or 
incapacity to contain the seemingly polysemous degree of 
expressivity of the African discourse seen in different shades of 
literary genres. Such works on other Nigerian languages are to 
follow. Two works or two great polyglots are in focus here _ 
Wole Soyinka translating from Yoruba to English and John Abioye 
translating from Yoruba to French. Four semio-syntactic and 
stylistic constructs attract our interest here. They are: the use of 
noun clause/phrase, adverbial phrase, adjectival phrase and African 
proverbs. Our discoveries serve as guides for further translation 
enterprise of African document replete with African expressive 
specificities indicating special worIdview for a better syncretic 
globalisation. The statement hereunder corroborates and 
necessitates this exercise. 

The most famous and enduring of Fagunwa's works, 
most readers will agree, is OGBOJU ODE NINU 
IGBO IRUNMALE. which I translated nearly fifty 
years ago' as The Forest of a Thousand Demons. 
At that time, I had resolved to translate nothing less 
than ALL" of Fagunwa's novels and other writings, 
in order to make them accessible to non- Yoruba 

Wole Soyinka: 2010 

Introduction 
As globalization gets "guarded" due to fear of extinction of non 
dominant cultures expressed in different languages and the need 
for a given nation or economic groupings, like European union, 
Eurasia-where Russia and EU are fighting for the soul of 
Ukraine, to keep their industries alive, translation is becoming 
highly specialized; as "terminology" becomes one of its tools for 
efficiency. European Union maintains ancannual budget of $1.5 
billon (about ~250 billion) for that purpose. (cf The Economist Feb 
15, 2014: p.57). Beyond economic reasons, a humanistic 
dimension to sustainable human existence crave; as at now, for 
tolerance among civilizations. What the USA is reaping today in 

llr 



18 Le Bronze - Vo!. ~ November 2077 
Ariole Victor & Yusuff Ayo 19 

technology did not preclude the language industry, as most 
computers translate, though imperfcctly, most Nigerian languages. 
USA researchers had been studying and making efforts to include 
many languages in their systems especially African languages. At a 
confercnce in Harvard, our research intcrcst saw us interacting 
with a Ph.D holder in Igbo working for IBM-computer hardware 
producer in USA. It opened our eyes to f-uture possibility of having 
a system in which you key-in your own native language and you 
see it produced in all the possible languages you could imagine 
even ifnot perfect. In effect, like the president of Nigeria, Jonathan 
(2013) said: "You can only claim to be fully educated if you are 
bilinguaL" Curren] intelligence reporting challenges creating 
difficulties in overcoming current insurgency is an issue in 
intelligence officers not multilingual. Such computer operations 
could help as it did for USA in Vietnam. In effect, multi-linguals 
are better placed to do intelligence work. Literary translation in 
many languages help in reducing the clash of civilizations as 
witnessed today among many economic groupings present in 
Africa as needed to make Africa's presence felt; hence the need to 
embark on critiquing works of African origin presented in different 
languages so as to -continue sustaining accurate representation of 
the Afi:ican cultural standpoints. Professors John Abioye and Wole 
Soyinka are great polyglots that could lead the way for the 
expansion of translation critique in mUltiple languages, especially 
as Nigeria intends to lead Africa and so, needed to emulate USA 
and E.U in expanding enough through the language industry. 

Some Theoretical and Practical Reviews 

Vinay and Darbelnet (1958) embarked on veiled translation 
critique enterprise which they considered as comparative stylistics 
of English and French as observed in the North America of USA 
and Canada. Today, terminology studies, inspired by such critique, 
are springing in Canada and Europe. In the same vein, subtitling of 
films seems to be another 'avenue of relating multi-cultural issues 
to the world. Antia and Vanallemeersch (20]2) adopts an approach 
that cOITesponds to how Roman Jakobson theorises on language: 
bringing to fore referential functions of language; that is: making 

facts remain facts; emotive function of language-showing the 
hopes, aspiration, fears or joy of the original source; connative 
functions-creating a hypodermic effect on the target audiences; 
phatic function-getting into propaganda, an aspect that keeps, 
excites or distances the target audience; metalingual functions­ 
creating special means to express situations not found in the target 
language, etc. 

To them it is a structural issue; that is, involving quantitative 
and qualitative measures as well as following the principles of 
complementary distribution of information necessary to make 
correct decision in subtitling so as to avoid undermining the 
message intended by the product-the film. Ariole (2011) 
contends that such process, especially taking into cognizance the 
combined result of emotive, phatic, referential and conative, ought 
to underlie the avoidance of distorting African names and names of 
elements that lead to mode of knowing in Africa; for example, 
names and elements as found in Africa's creative or literary works 
convey meaning of epistemological imports that could be distorted 
if not well transmitted in a target language. Dancette, Audet and 
Jay-Rayon (2007) see the process as creativity oriented and must 
be done to guard against misrepresentation in the target language 
hence it must touch on conscience, resilience in remaining focused 
on the object of discourse and making sure that the translator 
carried out research to know constraints and limits required, or are 
inherent, in the exposure to that object or subject matter. The 
emotional biases, of the translator must; also, relate the intent of 
the originator or avoid fundamental emotional clash with the target 
audience. The translator must, as well, be sensitive to values of 
culture specific, either of the origine or of the target audience. 

Analysis of Level of Fidelity in Rendering Ogboju Ode ... in 
English and French. 
The analysis is in the following areas: Rendition of Noun Phrases, 
Adverbial Phrases, Adjectival Phrases and some Proverbs, as they 
are key to upholding or negating propounded theories relevant to 
literary translation. 



I 

20 Le Bronze - Vol. 5; November 2017 

3.1: NOUN PHRASES 

Note: When the phrases arc underlined, it means there arc asymmetries in the rendition, other ad' 
guide in understanding the aSYmmetriC'" 

.J - --····0 t'J.U u. •. :)\,.,'::: - - - - -- .. -- •...•. 
FAGUNWA 

SOYINKA 
ABIOYE a. Iborn rni ati apo ode mi ko kuro 

I had stuck close to my gun and 
Quant it la pierre que ma mere Iowo mi (p.40) 

my.hunting-bag. (p.60) 
n'avait offerte, je la gardai dans 
men sac de chasse car depuis 
que je COl11mans;ai a cprouvcr " 

des moments difficilcs, jc ne 
m'etais plus separe de tout ce 
dont je disl20sais comrnc arrno : 
rnon fusil et men cOU12e-cou12e. 
(p.64) 

Analytical Comment: Except the position of"mi" == "my", the Yoruba and English presentations observe 
the same asymmetcies. The French version pmeeeded in what Vinay & DarbcInet termed "eto[[el11ent"; more of explanatory translation 

b. Awon era Oke Langbodo. (p.47) 
The expedition to Mount 

Les... voyageurs sur Oke Langbado. (p.68) 
Langbado. (p.74) 

Ariole Victor & Yusuff Ayo 21 

Analytical Comment: The usc of the head noun in the three languages differ: "Awon ero", "the 
expedition" and "les voyageurs". However, "expedition" makes it more of being on a pilgrimage or 
voyage of discovery thereby situating Oke Langbodo as holy site. 

c. 1\! iragbeje po lokunrin. (p.7l) Ah, a most impressive man is Oh! Iragbeje ctait un homme 
Iragbeje. (p.l 00) formidable. (p.116) 

Analytical Comment: As blurred adjectival and noun clauses this constituent units the three languages. 
d. o mu oti igbese, 0 yo kinridin. He drank the wine, the wine of II a trop bu du vin de grosses 

(p.72) debtors and was solidly drunk. (p. bananes et a fini par avoir un 
102) ventre qui point 

outrageusement. (p.118) 
Analytical Comment: There is an unexpressed or implied meaning of "oti igbese" which the french 
version intended to expatiate with the physical outlook of the person. It also triggered the "etoffement" 
process. 

e. Enyin ore mi. (p.l) My friends all. (p.7) I Chers amis. (p.l) 
Analytical Comment: This disparity avoidable here is the English "all". One wonder if "you, my friends" 
wouldn't have served. 

f. Igba ekini Akara-Ogun ninu igbo First-sojourn of Akara-Ogun in La premiere experience vccuc 
irunmale. (p.S) the forest of a thousand daemons. par Akara-Ogun en tant que 

.,' (p.14) chasseur dans la foret 

- 
d'Irunmale. (p.9) 



22 Le Bronze - I/O/. 5 AI b 
V~ • /lvOvem er 2017 

Analytical Com t· Th men. e French version indu1 cd . 
... en tant que chasseur. .. is too loner to serve as ~in.t1?"leat1Y I~ etoffement here; La premiere experience 
name dcnotes non-neophytee. 0 1 ia expenence". The fact that "Akara-O " 

g. A' .. . gun as a 
. 0111)0 rue a1ayo nyo nwon nda 

A-ah, the dance-Qrone danced rnuso nitori mi, nwon nfe pa mi . a dan~er, a sautillcr ct a QOUSscr (p.7) 1 rc. the joy-filled rejoiecd, they be~an 
des ens de joie. (p.ll/12) to count their chickens for they 

100k~d forward to killing and 
A I . feastmg on me (p 16) na ytlcal Comment· The E 1· h· . . . . ng IS version played 0 t th . 
was qurtc prosaic. The English version approximated ~I e ~o.etrc ~xpre~sion required while the French 

• rc ongll1almtentlOn. 

------ 

Ariole Victor & Yusuff Ayo 23 

3.2: ADVERBIAL PHRASES 
FAGUNWA SOYINKA ABIOYE 

.. 

a. Nigbati 0 to bi wakati kan. (pAO) For about an hour. (p.60) Au bout d'environ une heure. 
(p.64) 

Analytical Comment: "nigbati" = "when" docs not take the same form in the English and French 
versions. 

b. Bi mo ti 10 si igbe 10 se ode. (pAS) When I went to the bush to hunt. Un jour, quand je faisais la 
(p.66) chasse. (p. 71 ) 

Analytical Comment: "Bi" finds it difficult to represent "when" or "quand" in English and French. 

c. Nwon bo ile mi sikansikan. (PA7) They covered my home like a lIs y vinrcnt trcs nombreux. 
swarm of locusts. (p.68) (p.74) 

Analytical Comment: "Sikansika" is also not quite represented in English and French. "Adaptation" as a 
process of translation was used here. 



24 Le Bronze - Vol. 5, November 2017 

d. Bi 0 ti wi bayi tan na ni 0 dide ni No sooner had he spoken than he Aprcs s'ctre cxprimc sur ee ton, 
ilc ibiti nwon bi i si. (p.76) rose from the sQot on whieh he il pcnctra dans Ia ehambre de sa 

had been delivered. (p.106) mere. (p.124) 

Analytical Comment: There is a "contre-scens" in the French version as an expression of the 
extraordinary .is intended differently here. "Rising up" = "dide" but not "penetrer" which means penetrate: 
possibly by crawling or wizardry. 

e. Bi awon akorin ti nkorin ninu ile As the choir was singing in the II allait a dcglisc ... Un jour, 
Olorun. (p.95) church. (p.1311132) Qendant que Ie chccur chantait les 

• Iouanges de Dieu. (p.153) 
Analytical Comment: In French why "dans I'cglisc" was not used is quite doubtful as "chceur" or "choir" 
can only trigger "church" as well as "ilc Oiorun". 

f. Nigbati enia gbe iwin ni iyawo, When man takes ghommid to Au mariage d'un ctrc humain 
taraiyetaraorun njeun womu. (p.44) wife, the natives of earth and avec une fee, tous les habitants 

heaven banquet fit to burst. de Ia terre et ceux des cieux se 
(p.65) rcunircnt. (p.69) 

Analytical Comment: In French "au marriage" gives the impression of a normal situation which Antia et 
al feels distorts the phatic and emotion content of language as against questionable-prone expression of 

---- - 

Ariole Victor & Yusuff Ayo 25 

"Nigbati" and "when". 

g. Mase gbagbe mi ojoti akuko yio ko 
lehin re. (p.46) 

Analytical Comment: The French version is quite direct all\< ~~'. 

theme does not quite translate to the English proverb presented. 
Mais unc mise en garde: je nc Now I do not want you to dance 

to my drumming as a mosquito 
to the deep ibembe drums. (p.7) 

Nko fc ki e jo ilu mi bi igbati 
yanmuyanmu ba njo ibembe. (p.l) 

voudrais pas que vous dansiez 
aux rythmes de mon tam-tam a la 
maniere d'un moustique qui, tout 
squclettique et voulant danser 
aux rythmes d'ibembe ... (p.l) 

"dancinz" = "nio a,('",h~" ouzht to create sickness 

h. 

Analytical comment; 111'-' ll ••••••.•• ded original "dancing - llJV .v_···_ - - ~ 
expression in both English and French as the dance couldn't have been made for weakling in spirit. The 
use of 'deep' by the English version is wasteful. It adds nothing to the meaning. 



26 Le Bronze - Vol. 5_ November 2017 

FAGUNWA 
SOYINKA ABIOYE a. A 10 si ibudo ti Lamorin ti pa. We went to a lodge which Lamorin Puis nous allamcs passer la nuit (p.41) had built. (p.61) 

dans la tente gue Lamorin avait 
prepare. (p.65) 

Analytical Comment: Adjectival markers are well observed in the languages. French version represents 
"pa" better than the English version as Lamorin lodge could be spiritually fortified, however "ibudo" 
translates better to "lodge" if lodge stands for secret abode. 

b. Itan aramada kan. (p.47) Tales of marvel. (p.68) 
Des histoires drolcs, cdifiantcs 
et moralisatrices. (p. 74) 

Analytical Comment: The expressions in the three languages are quite attributes with elided introducers. 
French elided "cc sont", English "they are" Yoruba "won- je". 

c. Oke aimoyc eiye ega ti nwon Flocks of weavcr-birds frolicking on Aux aloucttcs qui sc bousculent nje aiye won lori igi ope. the crown of the palm. (p.68) pour se nourrir autour d'un seul (p.47) 
palmier. (p.74) 

Analytical Comment: The approach adopted in both English and French is the process of "equivalent"; quite acceptablc. 
d. Okuta olowo iyebiye. (pj1) Most precious stones. (p.1 00) De pierre precieuses. (p.116) 

Analytical Comment: Both the French and English did a "non-sens" of the original text. "Okuta" that 
makes money could be spiritual or fetish-like than diamond or gold. 

3.3: ADJECTIVAL PHRASES 

Ariole Victor & Yusuff Ayo 27 

I Dix gros morceaux de viande. Ege eran mewa. (p.72) Ten hunks of meat. (p.101) e. 
(p.118) 

Anal tical Comment: Here is mere literary translation approach. 
De dire des choses gui seraicnt, ~ . d I Words which far exceed the languagc 
normalcmcnt en bonne societe, 

f. Oro ti 0 IU enu omo e o. 
3) ofehildrcn. (p.l02) 

interditcs aux cnfants. (p.119) 
(p.7 

itc subicctivc with "normalcmcnt eu bonne societe" .. Analytical Comment: French was qUI ~ h . dcr to Chcrs amis intrcpidcs ct 
. .. Who bartered dcat away in or ., 1 g. 

Enyin ti c gbckuta ruton au se . d ( 131) couragcux gUI se sont donncs a . 94/95) do your country goo . p. ..1 . 
ilu ym lore. (p. peine pour fairc avanccr eUI 

pays et Qatrie. (p.152) 
k h . th t "ti" seems to be consistent as relative clause . I C ment· The remark to ma e ere IS a ." 

Analytica .o~ .'. ." hich or who" so also in French: "qUI and que. , 
marker not discriminating against w . 1 . 1 f t1 er Les experiences vecues Qar . . ko t Tl e expenences w liC 1 my a 1 h. Ohun ti oju baba rru n 0 to 1 d b 11· g man pere nctaicnt que de .) nderwent Qrove to e no un , . 
nkan lara term. (p.5 u . h . (p 14) enfantillage a cote des micnncs. comQared WIt mme. . 

(p.9) 
. d t d "modulation" process by introducing past participle Analytical Comment: French version a op e 

instead of relative pronoun. I I 1 d Ily I Ce fut au moment memo ou Akoko ti mba ri won pa gan ni I At the moment w len ra a rca 1. 



28 Le Bronze - Va!. 5" November 2017 

~ mo dede ri abarni eda kan. 
good chance to make a kill a singular j' allais ti rer sur un de ccs (p.9) 
being appeared. (p.18) 

animaux que j' apercus de 
nouveau, un ctrc dont la taille 
ctait trcs insignifiante. (p.I4) Analytical Comment: Here, again, "ti" agrees with "when" and "ou" Either in French or English, it could be adverbial phrase. 

J. 1\! Iragbeje po lokunrin. (p.71) Ah, a most impressive man is 
Oh! Iragbeje ctait un homme I Iragbeje. (p.l 00) 
fonnidable. (p.116) 

Analytical Comment: In a passive tone the underlined expressions could go for noun phrase for the 
three languages, hence "un hommc fonnidable est Iragbeje", "po lokunrin, Iragbeje je. 
We have it in page 5, also. 

k. Ohun re si gba igbo kan. (p.7) His voice totally encompassed the 
Le Roi des trolls poussa un forest. (p.16) 
grand cri aigu et d'une voix qui 
ne manqua pas de se faire 

,. 

entendre partout dans la forct, 
(p.ll) 

Analytical Comment: French version avoided the possessive adjective "rc" and "his" giving the 
impression that the anaphoric markers "rc" .and "his" lack in French. 

Ariole Victor & Yusuff Ayo 29 

3.4: YORUBA PROVERBS 
The proverbs are translated using the approach known as adaptation or equivalence: however some of the 
translation processes for the proverbs arc mere explicative or downplaying the original proverb, in order to 
agree with the emotion of language as propounded by Antia et al (2012) already cited. ,. 

FAGUNWA SOYINKA ABIOYE 
a. Ododo oro bi egun ni 0 nri Words of truth are as thoms, the La verite blesse et celui qui dit 

olododo si ni ota aiye. (p.47) honest man is the foe of the world. toujours la verite panni les 
(p.69) hommes court Ie risque dctrc 

appclc I'ennemi jure. (p.75) 
Analytical Comment: Both French and English versions arc mere explicative proeess.Freneh, for 
example, as an equivalence: la verite rougit les yeux mais ne les casse pas. Yes, saying the truth make 
some people see the sayer with reddened eyes (hatred). 

b. Opolopo alangba ni 0 da ikun The majority oflizards do indeed Bon nombre de lczards qui ont 
de ile a ko mo eyiti inu nrun. press their bellies to the ground but lc ventre tournc ver lc sol, on 
(pA8) we do not know which of them really n'arrive point it designer celui 

suffers from stomach ache. (p.69) d'entre eux qui aurait mal au 
ventre. (p.76) 

Analytical Comment: The versions are, all, explicative: though the French version makes it 
entertaining: 'tournc ... ' • 



30 Le Bronze - Va!. 5, November 2017 

c. Enyin ni 0 ndi akuko omode For it is the egg which becomes the Car petit poisson dcviendra oni si ni baba ola. (p.72) cock, the child is tomorrow's father. grand, pourvu que Dieu lui (p.IOI) prctc vie. (p.117) 
Analytical Comment: French version was highly entertaining. 'Dieu'- God needed to be avoided here. d. Eyiti 0 wa lehin ogofa 0 ju What follows a hundred and twenty 11 risque de devenir ainsi ee qui ogoje 10. (p.73) far exceeds a hundred and forty. n' est ni chcvrc ni lapin. (p.119) (p.I03) 
Analytical Comment: The two versions operated adaptation process, and they seem 'eontre- scns' to the original 

e. Etc ni igbehin alascju aseju si Disgrace is the goal of excess, and Un hornrnc vanitcux finit par ni baba asete agba ti 0 wo ewu the immoderate is the father of the ctrc tournc en ridicule. C'cst aseju ete ni yio fi rio (p.82) disgraced; the elder who puts on the justement I'hornmc vanitcux qui 
cloth of excess will wear it to his cherche a ajouter des pieds au 
own humiliation. (p.lI6) serpent. (p.134) 

Analytical Comment: French and English versions were explicative though 'ajouter des pieds au 
serpent' makes for comedy. 

f. Bi egun eni bajo're ori a ya ni. When our masquerade dances well, Voir bien danser sa mascarade (p.l) our heads swell and do a spin. (p.7) excite ncccssaircmenr une joie 
immense chez Ie guide. (p.l) Analytical Comment: 

The Frech version makes' masquerade' a personal issue whereas it is not: 'our' 

Ariole Victor & Yusuff Ayo 31 

in English makes it a collective issue. ' 
Lc tam-tam d'ogidigbo ; ce sera g. Bi owe bi owe ni a nlu ilu Like the so~ o.r ous ~r~verb d~ we 
moi Ie batteur dudit tam-tam ct . .. drum the agidigbo . It IS the wise 

ogidigbo, ologbon 111 IJO 0, . d th I ed who vous les savants qui vont danser . .. (1) who dance to It, an e eam 
omoran 111 SI imo O. p. . 1 . ( 7) a ses rythmes. (p.l) understand Its anguagc. p. . . 

, t for "f" goes for "g": collective mythical Issue gets Analytical Comment: 1 he same commen I 

downplayed if personalised. 
Toute arne ne sachant pas bien The soul which does not cat hot h. Emi ti ko ba je ata emi kekere 

peppers is .a weak soul. (p.28) se nourrir et chctivc ct minable. ni. (p.lS.) 
(p.24) 

. h d t that roverb in its original presentation seems the Analytical Comment: The mythl~al valu~ atta~ ~ 0 t f: K om saying that" one is an adult who still value by both the French and English versions. t IS no ar r 
indulges in being fed with "biberon " 

Cclui qui essaie de faire ce que 1. Eniti 0 se ohun ti cni kan ko se He who must do what no o~le has 
personne n'a rente de faire vivra . . . . k ti done before him will expenence that n OJU oluware na yio n n an . 
une experience que personne ' . ko ri ( 21122) which no man had expenenced cnikan 0 n n. p. 
n'ajamais vccuc. (p 33) before. (p.36) 

Analytical Comment: Here, also, the versions are explicative.- 
I Le licvrc finit toujours par . . kikani iku The aggressive man no one dies the J. lku ogun III ipa a 1 anju, 1 .. 
mourir au gitc. (p.33) d .. we iku obinrin death of war, the swimmer dies the o 0 III ipa omu , 



t 

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~ 

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cr' 
o 
C 
ell 
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'5 

f---------i G~ 
Ul 4-< C 
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(Jj cO ,,- • t:: 
;:l •..• ,... (.) -;:: (.) o .•... -;:: ,.D Ci3 '0 
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boUlUl >0 c: ._ .~ ..£3 CI) >-.. 
,_ +-' tI) .......-4 cO 0 
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(.) (.) (.) ell .•..• ell ..c~ •... ..c ..::!(.) 

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r.......... - cd CJ :::: ._ 
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g .s, ~ .g 
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'2 '2 '2 -< ? 

Rasaq A. Thomas 33 

In general, it seems that the mythical value of Afican proverbs is 
highly difficult to find space in the collonial language syntatic 
structure or thought pattern. It means that more thories are needed 
to be propounded on how best to render african proverbs. Both 
French and English versions of "Ogboju Ode ... " as translated here 
wer oflow fidelity rendition . 

Conclusion 
In this work we limited ourselves to three constituents of sentence 
structure and, partially opaque or compact structure proverbs. We 
observed that the noun phrases produced differences in the three 
languages in question and that they created problem for the French 
translator just as the proverbs created problems, also, for the 
English translator. For the French audience, the text could serve as 
entertaimnent the way it was rendered in French, the etoffement 
process; and for the English (non African) audience, it could be 
seen as fetish discourse- designed to be undestood by an audience 
fanniliar with the discourse . 

In all, it is necessary to note that both translations needed 
revision in view of the current civilisation clashes everywhere, as 
the Anglo-Saxons or those sympathetic with Whites of Anglo­ 
Saxon Protestants (WASP) seem tuming the world into great 
cultural laboratory involving animals, sexuality, cloned elements 
and robot, towards intetiwining humanistic culture with robotic 
culture. The fact that the adverbial phrases drew more asymmetries 
than other phrase structures show that emphasis leading to 
modification of thought pattems expressed in adjectival phrases or 
verbal phrases give easier clue to universals than noun phrases and 

proverbs. 
This work opens the search for more studies in other 

constituents of the sentence structure; especially the verbal 
structure and its predicative stimulus and response chain in any 
given discourse. Note that the French version gives less r00111 to 
autonomous-like phrase structure, what is known in French as 
"enonce syntaxique". Whereas African discourse is replete of such 
phrase, and that the proverb syntactic structures in Afica, mostly, 

'Ii 
~ 

cu 
~ 
~ 
cu -...j 

1 

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N 
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34 Le Bronze - Vol. 5, November 201 7 
Rasaq A. Thomas 

behave that way; the colonial languages fail in most cases to 
accomodate such pattern or behaviour. How to relate such 
structure to the colonial languages is tasking. 

Soyinka Wole, The Forest of a Thousand Daemons, Edinburgh: 
Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd. 1982. 
Soyinka Wole. In the Forest o/Olodumare, A translation of D.O. 
Fagunwa's Igbo Olodumare, Ibadan: Nelson Publishers Ltd, 2010. 
Vinay J.P. & Darbelnet, J. Stylistique Comparee da francais et de 
I 'anglais, Paris: Didier, 1958. 

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Aspects of Language Variation, Acquisition and Use, Festschrift 
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Ariole Victor C. "Translating African Names: A Study in Semio­ 
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Ariole Victor C. "Visualizing the Genomics of Language via 
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Blanchet Philippe & Martinez, Pierre (ed) Pratiques Innovantes du 
Plurilinguisme, Paris: AUF. 
Bremmer Ian "The New Rules of Globalization" in Harvard 
Business Review, Cambridge: Harvard Business School Publishing 
Corp, 2014. p. 34. 
Dancette Jeanne; Audet, Louise; Jay-Rayon Laurence, "Axes et 
critcrcs de la crcativitc en traduction" in MFTA Vol. 52, No.1, 
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Jonathan G. "NIA and Bilingualism" in Rotimi Fadcyi, National 
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Schum Peter "The English Empire" in The Economist, London: 
The Economist, 2014. p. 57. 

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