Ngero as a social object

Abstract

This is a study of the art of rig r no v/hich is a genre of Luo oral literature. The terra ncoro is in the singular. Like1 some Luo words whose singulars end in ro, the two let tors are replaced by che in the plural which becomes ngeche. Scholars of Luo oral tradition and culture translate and define ngero mistakenly as the proverb, thus making it lexically and culturally English by assuming that their naming systems are universal for all mankind. This generalisation variously identifies the ngero with short expressions, comprising brief statements, phrases and incomplete sentences. In this thesis over two hundred texts (ngcche) and oxp 1 anatc>ry da.ta (some in the- agpo: dic:es) prcvidc clues for analyses, interpretations and conclusions, revealing features unknown to the proverb as defined in the English dictionary thus proving the concepts of brevity and incompleteness as terms describing the ngero as inadequate and false. A ngero , whether only one word or a little more, is compietc, with the socio cultural background and context making it a long and (JV) huge text. These charuc< ■ ri sties make run so mind, bigger than t he Eng] i r.h j: rc ver1j , vi t h mar; ■/ ,j - -r c t. s t o its definitions. One of the definitions is that rinero is a complex, puzzling matter or utterance. Verbosity, circumlocution and apparently unf u.l f ii lab] o promises are aspects of ngero synonymous with s i (fan a. Ngero and si sari a also mean folktale. Riddle is rigoro . how commonly called kitanda will, a Luoni sVtioii of the Kiswahili Q>Uvi i'.i- ct C.viC'V^." kitonda wlii, riddling is a children's verbal and intellectual game, preparatory to sophistication in ngero. Allusive, diplomatic talk, mind-teasers and didactic utterances are forms of ngero. People's extraordinary characteristics and historical memorabilia are called ngero. A person with unpredictable and intractable characteristics is called rangero (ra makes ngero adjectival and descriptive of the character.) Figurativeness, al1iteruticn, purposive repetition, O'? phonaesthetics and aggluti r. a t i v enoTd ore features of ngero. With all those features, ngero conveys the feelings, perceptions, emotions, desires, morals, norms, traditional sagacity, and‘ concurring and opposing sociaj ideas of its users. The study therefore concludes that and therefore a verbal .social activity rcootivo to creat Ivj ty . Conversations from which no ere; in derived the ejonre Dc-ir.e part of those proces object. is a social The final picture is that ngcro is a cluster of complex phenomenon, ramifications, and imp!ications for which most concepts of existing scholarship are inadequate, for example, the folktale -form of ngcro is often compressed into a few words, meaning the understanding of the brief-form is incomplete without the folk-tale form and vice-versa. Another case is pakruek. A person praises himself on a merry-making occasion in negative terms, alluding to somebody in the party or simply having fun and being didactic. This is called pakruok, in certain respects a source and form of ngero; it is a praise-game as we 11 as beig educative. On its own , pakruek is a huge tip cf i.he ice-berg called naeg-o, The inLergeneric relationships involved are resolved ) by relying on the Luo oral dictionary. This thesis reveals the existence of the relationships and concludes that further investigation of the genres is necessary to mao cut the who 1 e range of nciere ' s comp 1 exi ty.