a no babariman e broko pranasi
Sranan Tongo
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Literally, “it's not the noisy ones who destroy the plantations”. Refers to escaped enslaved people who stealthily returned to wreck plantations and free other enslaved people.
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ˈa ˈno bːaɾiˈman ˈe ˈbɾoko pɾaˈnasi/, [ˈa̠ ˈnʊ̞ bːa̠ɾiˈma̠n ˈɪ̞ ˈbɾʊ̞kʊ̞ pɾa̠ˈna̠si], [ˈɑ̟ ˈnɔ̝ bːɑ̟ɾiˈmɑ̟n ˈe̝ ˈbɾɔ̝kɔ̝ pɾɑ̟ˈnɑ̟si]
Proverb
[edit]a no babariman e broko pranasi
- barking dogs seldom bite
- 1856, Heinrich Wullschlägel, Deutsch-negerenglisches Wörterbuch. Nebst einem Anhang, negerenglische Sprüchwörter enthaltend [German-Negro English dictionary. Containing, in addition to an appendix, Negro English proverbs][1], Löbau: J.U. Duroldt, page 304:
- A no Babariman de broko pranasi. Nicht die Schreier zerstören die Plantagen. (Geht auf die ehemaligen Buschneger-Einfälle[sic]). Hunde, die beißen wollen, bellen nicht zuvor. - Hunde, die bellen, beißen nicht.
- A no Babariman de broko pranasi. It's not the screamers that are destroying the plantations. (Goes [back] to the former Bush Negro incursions). Dogs that want to bite don't bark first. - Dogs that bark do not bite.