A CONTEXTUAL STUDY OF THE SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF GUJI- OROMO PROVERBS: The Savor and Rhetoric Power of Verbal Arts in Everyday Communications of African Peoples

Proverbs are the significant aspects of everyday communications of African peoples. However, these social and cultural treasures of the various ethnic groups of the continent have not been studied and publicized properly. This work is a contribution to the attempt to develop research and publication of African folklore. It is based on the data collected through fieldwork carried in Guji-Oromo Society in southern Ethiopian from where materials of proverbs were recorded along with the active social and cultural contexts of interactions. What makes the contents of this work different from other publications in folklore is that it embodies the functions and meanings of proverbs in particular contexts of social interactions among people with rich oral traditions. The communicative power of proverbs and the relevance of their meaning in regulating the established norms and values as well as knowledge and philosophy of the Guji-Oromo society are well demonstrated. The work is significant for researchers, students and readers in Folklore, Social Anthropology, Literature, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Sociolinguistics, philosophy and Social psychology.