Analysis of disability-related Amharic proverbs and their curriculum implications

Abstract

The present study aims to analyze disability-related Amharic proverb messages, their implications, and gender orientation. To do so, a mixed research approach and descriptive survey design were applied. Data were collected through document analysis. The collected data were analyzed using thematic content analysis, frequency counts, and percentages. A total of 49 proverbs were analyzed. The analysis revealed that these analyzed disability-related Amharic proverbs were derogatory. Moreover, the findings showed that through the analysis of 49 proverbs, 11 themes (social, psychological, religious (spiritual), cognitive/perceptual, economical, anatomical, technological, advising, beauty, recruitment, health, and moral implications) have emerged. The analysis of the proverbs also revealed that most of the disability-related proverbs were gendered, while a few were gender-neutral. The overall results imply that disability-related Amharic proverbs have curriculum implications.

Keywords:

• disability
• derogatory proverbs
• complimentary proverbs and curriculum implication

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

This paper is targeted at analyzing disability-related Amharic proverbs. Amharic is an Ethiopian Semitic language spoken all over Ethiopian towns in general and by Amhara people in particular. It is the federal official language. The study is special because it focused on curriculum matters. The study also contributes to the existing knowledge and values related to disability-related Amharic proverbs in relation to curriculum

1. Introduction

Disability is a natural and social human situation found across the globe. Different models have been used to understand disability. The models include social, medical, humanistic, religious, and charitable (Kumar, 2013; Oliver, 1983). Oliver explains the social model as that which understands disability as a social construct. That is, each society has its own understanding of disability depending on its cultural beliefs (Setume, 2016). Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Justice (1991) conceptualizes disability as a physical or mental impairment that significantly confines one or more major life activities. According to the social model, disability refers to all the things that impose restrictions on disabled people ranging from individual prejudice to institutional discrimination, from inaccessible public buildings to unusable transport systems, and from segregated education to excluding work arrangements (Dinerstein, 2005). In the Western world and African communities, disability or impairment means either to be somehow unable or severely unable to live up to societal expectations (Ogechi & Ruto, 2002). They also conceptualize impairment as any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological, anatomical structure or function.

According to the Ethiopia Transitional Government, Proclamation No. 101 of 1994, a person with a disability is incapable of seeing, hearing, speaking, or suffering from mental retardation or injuries that limit him or her due to natural or manmade causes, Japan International Cooperation Agency Planning and Evaluation Department (2002). Disability is defined as “Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities” (Gebru, 2007, p.3). The definitions given to disability seem to imply that a disabled person is unable to ensure a normal life because of a deficiency in his or her visual, hearing, physical, or mental capabilities.

There are different positive and negative beliefs regarding the causes of disability. For example, in African countries such as Cameroon, Ethiopia, Senegal, Uganda, and Zambia, there is a common belief that the sin of the mother, an ancestral curse, and demonic possession are causes of disability (United Nation, n.d.). Similarly, Abera (2014) mentions that disability is often seen as a curse from God or an evil spirit given to a person by an enemy. In sub-Saharan Africa, poor nutrition, lack of prenatal care, poor hygiene, and dangerous living conditions increase the prevalence of people with disabilities (Charema, 2007, cited in Abera, 2014). Based on their culture, people have different perceptions and beliefs regarding the causes of disability. Although false perceptions and beliefs about the causes of disability are often difficult to overcome, beliefs can change and evolve over time (United Nation, n.d.). Many of the beliefs developed by societies concerning disability imply that they seem to have no place in traditional societies, including African societies. However, a look at some African communities like the Shona milieu shows that not only were the societies aware of disability but they also cultivated many positive ways of approaching and dealing with people with such disabilities using proverbs (Makaudze, 2019).

“Proverbs are popular sayings that help to express ideas, feelings, and secrets precisely and effectively” (Hiruie, 2020, p.28). They represent and express society’s distilled wisdom on what life has shown and taught them (Makaudze, 2019). Each language of society, including Amharic, has its own collection of proverbs (Hiruie, 2020). In sum, proverbs have served as catalysts for the preservation and transmission of people’s views, thoughts, values, perceptions, belief systems, life experiences, expectations, collective knowledge, wisdom, philosophy, ethics, and morals across generations since the preliterate times (Dame, 2018).

Proverbs also present generalizations of a community’s perception of disability. Consequently, different societies have used different proverbs to explain the severity and type of disabilities, the impact of disability on individuals with disabilities and their families, and society’s perception of the disability (Belaynesh & Engen, 2016). For example, in Zimbabwe, there are different Shona proverbs that are born out of Shona people’s experiences and observations of disability. According to Makaudze (2019), the Shona people’s worldview governs most of the Shona people’s thoughts about persons who could be living with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities, like any human being, should be accommodated, tolerated, and respected like any human being (Makaudze, 2019). Makaudze also stated that the Shona community socializes its members into respecting those with disabilities, making available platforms for self-expression, as well as being tolerant and patient with them, but sometimes it has had an indifferent approach to those with disabilities seeing and regarding them as less human.

Similarly, Amhara societies have their own proverbs that are used for different purposes and contexts (Adamu, 2015). Amharic proverbs have literal or plain meanings and messages that can be understood by any hearer, while the rest of them are metaphorical sayings in which it is sometimes difficult to get their meaning simply (Hiruie, 2020). Thousands of Amharic proverbs can express almost every aspect of life, including disability, and are used everywhere by different groups of people beyond the boundaries of age, gender, and personal status in society (Hiruie, 2020).

Various proverbs have been used in different African societies to explain and describe disabilities. For example, the ethnic groups Nandi and Abagusii, respectively, in Kenya have an encouraging saying—“Lakwa ko lakwa” or “Omwana n’omwana” - a child is a child regardless of his/her impairment (Ogechi & Ruto, 2002), which is encouraging or complimentary. Moreover, Makuaudze (2019) asserted that African proverbs are positive in promoting the welfare of people with disabilities. However, Ogechi and Ruto stated that the traditional worldview of Nandi and Abagusii towards people with disabilities is a blend of acceptance, integration, and stereotypes.

Similarly, Makaudze (2019) claimed that the Shona ethnic groups in Zimbabwe have proverbs that express society’s approach to disability positively or negatively. For instance, the proverb “Munhu munhu haafananidzwi nembwa” (a human being is a human being and cannot be treated like a dog) (Makaudze, 2019). This is an encouraging proverb that values disabled individuals. This means that complimentary proverbs related to disability may be perceived as desirable dispositions. However, derogatory proverbs are used by Shona ethnic groups regarding people with disabilities. To cite one “Mapofu haatungamirirani’ (the visually impaired cannot lead each other) (Makaudze, 2019). This proverb devalues individuals with visual impairment; therefore, it can be considered as an undesirable disposition. Similarly, Amhara people have been using different derogatory and/or complimentary proverbs regarding disability (Daniel, 2019). This implies that the people of Amhara had their own desirable and undesirable dispositions regarding disabilities.

Proverbial messages may have social, emotional, economic, leadership, psychological, physiological, anatomical, and gender implications (Kebede, 2014) for individuals with disabilities, their families, teachers, leaders, colleagues, peers, and society (United Nation, n.d.). These messages can be derogatory or complimentary (Ogechi & Ruto, 2002). For instance, in Kenyan Nandi society proverb stated as “all calves are equal” is a complimentary proverb (desirable disposition) because it promotes the equality of disabled and nondisabled persons (Ogechi & Ruto, 2002). However, such positive indigenous treatment of the disabled is rapidly eroding away (Ogechi & Ruto, 2002).

2. Statement of the problem

The people of Amhara in Ethiopia have been using different derogatory or complimentary proverbs regarding disabilities in their daily life experiences (Daniel, 2005). For example, to describe visual impairment, there is a proverb which is stated as “እዉር ለእዉር ቢደጋገፍ ተያይዞ ገደል” (The visually impaired cannot guide each other). Likewise, “ቆማጣ ቢሮጥ ወንዝ አይሻገርም” (whatever her/she runs, a leper never crosses a river) is an Amharic proverb used regarding physical disability. Furthermore, “የደንቆሮ ሰረግ በሽብሸባ ያልቃል”(The weeding of a deaf ends up with dancing) is a proverb used to express hearing impairment. Similarly, “ሞኝ ዉሃ ሲወስድዉ ይስቃል” (A fool laughs when taken away by running water) is a proverb used to express mental disability. All these Amharic proverbs regarding disability are derogatory or discouraging. This signifies that there are undesirable dispositions developed by the people of Amhara regarding disability, which are reflected in their proverbs. Nevertheless, there are Amharic proverbs that valued disabled people. For instance, the proverbs like “አይኑ እንጅ የታወረዉ ልቡ ብርሃን ነዉ” (Although he is blind, his heart is enlightened) is an encouraging proverb. This complimentary Amharic proverb implies that there are indigenous desirable dispositions developed among the Amhara people regarding disabilities.

Moreover, some of the sample Amharic disability-related proverbs might be gendered, whereas others are gender-neutral. Gendered proverbs may be masculine or feminine. Otiso (2019) conceptualizes masculinity as what a given society accepts as characteristics associated with males and the expression of maleness, whereas femininity is the opposite.

However, as far as the researcher’s reading is concerned, the type of derogatory and complimentary Amharic proverbs, their proportions, their gender orientation, and their curriculum implication are issues that have not been well addressed via research in Ethiopian context. Because Ethiopian scholars like Gebru (2007) conducted a study entitled “Wolayta’s Proverbs,” Worku (1973) conducted a research entitled “Somaligna’s Proverbs and Selomon (1986) carried out a study entitled as “Comparative study of Amharic and Oromipha’s proverbs”. These research titles imply that none of these studies addressed the variables (disability, gender, and implications) that are intended to be addressed in the present study. This was the major factor prompting the researcher to conduct this study. Moreover, the contribution of the present study to the enrichment of the filed disability and cultural linguistics is another factor that made the study to be paramount. To this end, the objectives of this study were to investigate derogatory and complimentary Amharic proverbs and examine their implications, proportion, and gender orientation.

2.1. Research leading questions

1. What are the disability-related Amharic proverbs having derogatory, complimentary, or both intentional message/s? What is their proportion?

2. What intentional implication do the proverbs have?

3. What gender orientation do the proverbs have a? What is their proportion?

3. Research method

3.1 Site of the study

Amhara National Regional State (ANRS) is one of the 11 regional states of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE). The region shares a boundary with the Tigray region in the North, Afar and Oromia regions in the East, the Oromia region in the South, and the Benishangul region, and the Sudan Republic in the West. Amhara society has its own language called Amharic that has its own alphabet. Amharic is a Semitic in its origin and is a national language of Ethiopia. Amhara society has its own proverbs related to disability, which are used for different purposes and in different contexts (Adamu, 2015).

3.2. Research approach and design

The type of research approach used in this study was mixed because both qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods were employed. However, it is the qualitative aspect of the study that outweighed the quantitative aspect. The quantitative method was used to substantiate the qualitative data. The design used in the present study was a descriptive survey. The purpose of this design was to describe and explain the existing social reality in relation to disability-related Amharic proverbs that are documented in a book written by Daniel. The design is suitable to describe the existing social realities of life embodied in disability-related Amharic proverbs. Therefore, descriptive survey design is the appropriate design to address the research leading questions of the present study

3.3. Data sources

The data source for this study was a document. This document was a book written by Daniel Abera, which was published in 2006. The book was selected because it is the only book that the researcher found inclusive, comprehensive, and recent, and consisted of a large number of Amharic proverbs. However, the other well-known books published by Bǝlātten-getā Māḫtama Sǝllāse Walda Masqal and Liqa-mazammǝrān Mogas consisted of 3,500 and 2,000 Amharic proverbs, respectively (Hiruie, 2020), are not as comprehensive and inclusive as those of Daniel’s.

3.4. Subject of the Study

The majority of the population in this study are Amharic proverbs reflecting the social realm life of the Amhara people regarding disability. However, for manageability and thematic relevance, 60 proverb samples were drawn from the sea of thousands of Amharic proverbs regarding hearing, visual, mental, and physical disabilities.

3.5 Sample size and sampling strategies

Although Daniel’s (2005) book consists of more than 20,000 Amharic proverbs, it is around 111 of them which are related to disability. Among these, approximately 11, 33, 55, and 12 were related to hearing impairment, visual impairment, mental disability, and physical disability, respectively. However, from these disability-related Amharic proverbs, only nine (hearing impairment related), 18 (visual impairment related), 22 (mental disability related), and 11 (physical disability related) were the proverbs that were selected for analysis based on their clarity and simplicity to be understood by the researcher. Therefore, the sampling technique used in this study was purposive sampling. However, the final analysis was conducted for eight, 14, 20, and seven of the proverbs related to hearing impairment, visual impairment, mental disability, and physical disability, respectively. Therefore, the analysis was conducted for 49 Amharic proverbs related to disability, on which the three raters agreed regarding the nature of their intentional message.

3.6. Data gathering tools

The data-gathering tool employed in this study was a document analysis that was conducted on a book called “Yeamargna teretna misalewoch (Amharic proverbs).” In collecting the data, first the researcher got the electronic copy of the book. Then, he read each proverb related with disability line by line. When he found a disability (visual, hearing, mental, and physical) related proverb, the researcher copied it and pasted it on a Microsoft word pad. Through such a process around 111 disability-related proverbs have been identified. Again, from the 111 disability-related proverbs, only proverbs which were clear and understandable have been screened and ready for analysis.

However, using document analysis as the only data gathering tool has its own drawbacks. For instance, as the book was softcopy, the reading might not be exhaustive because few disability-related proverbs might be missed. In addition, the book by itself is not in a position to address every disability-related Amharic proverb. Furthermore, the message of every proverb is contextual which could make the analysis subjective.

3.7. Data analysis

The researcher prepared a coding sheet. The coding sheet consisted of two columns. The first column consists of different Amharic proverbs related to disability. The second column provides options for the rater to decide whether the given Amharic proverb is derogatory, complimentary, or both. This coding sheet was distributed to three raters including the researcher. The three raters independently decided whether a given disability-related Amharic proverb is derogatory or complimentary using the given coding sheet. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis regarding the message of each proverb. The emerging themes are categorized based on their similarity. Moreover, percentage and frequency counts were used to analyze the proportion of derogatory, complimentary, gendered, and gender neutral disability-related Amharic proverbs and the recurring frequency of their implications emerging themes.

3.8. Reliability of the rating process

In conducting the rating, three professionals from Amharic (PhD), Special Needs Education (Masters), and Curriculum and Instruction (PhD researcher) participated. The researcher and the special needs specialist raters showed a hundred percent agreement for hearing impairment, visual impairment, and mental disability-related proverbs regarding whether they were derogatory or complimentary, but they disagreed with one of the proverbs regarding physical disability. In contrast, the Amharic specialist rater showed disagreement regarding one, four, two, and one of the proverbs related to hearing impairment, visual impairment, mental disability, and physical disability, respectively. To this end, the analysis was conducted on the proverbs on which the three raters showed total agreement.

4. Results of the study

The present study aims to analyze disability-related Amharic proverb types, the proportion of derogatory and complimentary proverbs, their implications, and gender orientation. The analysis was conducted only for those proverbs (49) on which the three raters showed agreement. To this end, the results are presented in line with the research questions.

As depicted in Table 1, all the analyzed hearing impairment-related proverbs represented by letter “A” to “H” were found derogatory in their intentional message. Furthermore, the findings revealed that the analyzed proverbs have social, psychological, and anatomical implications. Table 1 also discloses that except the proverbs which are represented by letter “A,” “E,” and “F” all the other proverbs are gendered. This signifies that there are different hearing impairment-related Amharic proverbs that are gendered and gender-neutral.

Table 1. Hearing impairment related proverbial messages, their implication and gender orientation

Proverbs	Intentional message of proverbs	Implication of proverbs	Gender orientation of proverbs
A. የደንቆሮ ሰረግ በሽብሸባ ያልቃል/The wedding of a deaf ends in a whirlwind/	Derogatory	Social	Gender neutral
B. ደንቆሮ ከሚያጫዉትኝ የሚሰማ ያዉጋኝ/Let a non-deaf talks me rather than a deaf plays me/	››	Social		Gendered
C. ያልሰማ ጆሮ ከጎረቤት ያጣላል/Unhearing ear ignites a conflict among neighbors/	››	Social		››
D. ደንቆሮ ምን ሰምቶ እዉር ምን አይቶ/What the deaf heard and the blind saw/	››	Anatomical		››
E. የደንቆሮ ልቅሶ መልሶ መላልሶ/The crying of a deaf is monotonous/	››	Social	››
F. የደንቆሮ ልቅሶ በሽብሸባ ያልቃል/The crying of a deaf ends in a whirlwind/	››	Social	››
G. ደንቆሮ ሲዘፍን አይኑን ጨፍኖ ነዉ/When a deaf person sings, he closes his eyes/	››	Social		››
H. ደንቆሮ የሰማ እለት ያብዳል/The day a deaf person hears, he goes crazy/	››	Psychological		››

N.B: the underlined words or phrase indicates the gendered orientation of the proverb.

As presented in Table 2, all the analyzed sample visual impairment-related Amharic proverbs represented by letter “A” to “N” were found derogatory in their message. The results also revealed that the analyzed proverbs have social, psychological, and anatomical implications. Table 2 also shows that the proverbs represented by “K,” “M,” and “N” are gender-neutral but proverbs represented by letter “A” to “J” and “L” are gendered. This could indicate that there are both gender-neutral and gendered visual impairment-related Amharic proverbs used by the Amhara people.

Table 2. Visual impairment related proverbial messages, their implication and gender orientation

Proverbs	Intentional messages of proverb	Implication of proverbs	Gender orientation of proverbs
A.በእዉር አገር ጠንባራ ንጉስ ነዉ/In the country of blind, a squinted eyed is a king/	Derogatory	Anatomical severity		Gendered
B.በእዉሮች ከተማ አንድ አይና ንጉስ ነዉ/ In the town of blinds, a one eyed is a king/	››	>>		››
C.እዉር ምን አይቶ ደንቆሮ ምነሰምቶ/What the blind saw and the deaf heard/	››	anatomical		››
D.እዉር ሲቀነጣ ምርኩዙን ጥሎ ይፈልጋል/ When a blind overacts, he throws his walking stick and looks for it/	››	psychological		››
E.እዉር ሲቀነጣ ምርኩዝ ጥሎ ወጣ/When a blind over acts, he leaves his home without his walking stick/	››	››		››
F.እዉር ሲዎበራ መሪዉን ይጣላል/ When a blind overacts, he quarreled with his guider/	››	››		››
G.እዉር ሲጠግብ ዘንግ ይወረዉራል/When a blind feels satiety, he throws a stick/	››	››		››
H.እዉር በበዛበት አንድ አይና ይነግሳል/When there are more blinds, a one eyed will act as a king/	››	Anatomical severity		››
I.እዉር ቢሸፈት ከጓሮ አያመልጥም/A blind never escape from backyard even if he outlawed/	››	Social		››
J.እዉርን እዉር ቢመራዉ ተያይዞ ገደል/if a blind guides a blind both will fail to a abysm/	››	Social		››
K.ከእዉር ቤት አንድአይና ብርቅ ነዉ/In a blind house, one eyed is pet/	››	Anatomical severity	Gender free
L.የዉር ጥጋባኛ ያለመሪ ይሄዳል/The satiety blind man goes without a guider/	››	Psychological		››
M.ከአይነ ስዉር ቤት ፊልም መስራት ተጀመረ/Filmmaking begins in the blind house/	››	Social	››
N.አሳ ያለበት ባህርና እዉር ያለበት ደብር ሳይበጠበጥ አያድር/A sea where there is fish and a village where there is a blind never be stable/	››	Social	››

N.B: the underlined words or phrase indicates the gendered orientation of the proverb.

As displayed in Table 3, all the analyzed Amharic proverbs related to mental disabilities that are represented by letter “A” to “T” were found derogatory in their messages. Moreover, the findings unearthed that the analyzed proverbs have cognitive, social, psychological, economic, moral, religious, beauty, and advisory implications. Some of them have more than one implication (J&T). In addition, Table 3 portrays that the proverbs represented by letter “H,” “K,” “L,” “N,” “O,” “Q,” and “R” are gender-neutral, whereas proverbs represented by letter “A” to “G,” “I,” “J,” “M,” “P,” “S,” and “T” are gendered. These results signify that the Amhara people used both gender-free and gendered proverbs in describing and treating mental disability.

Table 3. Mental disability related proverbial messages, their implication and gender essence

Proverbs	Intentional message of proverbs	Implications of the proverb	Gender orientation of the proverb
A.ለሞኝ ሰኔ በጋዉ መስከርም ክርምቱ/For the silly of June, the summer of September/.	Derogatory	Cognitive		Gendered
B.ለሞኝ ጉድጓድ አያሳዩትም ቤት ነዉ ብሎ ይግባበታል/Don’t show a whole to a fool because he may enter into it by considering it as a home/	››	Cognitive		››
C.ሞኝና ወረቀት የያዘዉን አይለቅ/Don’t let go of the stupid and the paper/	››	Cognitive		››
D.ሞኝ ዉሃ ሲወስድዉ ይስቃል/ A fool laughs when a run of water takes away him/.	››	››		››
E.ሞኝ ዘመድ ከልጅህ እኩል አድረግኝ ይላል/A fool relative says make me equal to your child/	››	Social		››
F.ቂል ሲረግሙት የመረቁት ይመስለዋል/When a fool is cursed, he takes it as blessing/	››	Cognitive		››
G.ቂል አይሙት እንዲያጫዉት/Let a fool not die because he is a player/	››	Social		››
H. በሞኝ ክንድ የዘንዶ ጉድጓድ ይለኩበታል/Measure a dragon hole with a fool ‘s arm/	››	Cognitive	Gender free
I.ተሞኝ ደጃፍ ሞፈር ይቆርጣል/A momp is cut from a fool’s compound/	››	Cognitive		››
J.ተቂል አትጫዎት አይንህን ያዎጣል በእንጨት/Don’t play with fool,he takeout your eye by wood/	››	Social and advising		››
K. እብድ የያዘዉ መልከ አይበረክትም/A madman does not look good/	››	Beauty	››
L.እብድ ለእብድ አብሮ ይንጎድ/Go crazy for crazy/	››	Social	››
M.እብድ ቢጨምት እስከ እኩለ ቀን/A mad would be disciplined until noon/	››	Psychological		››
N.የሞኝ ልቅሶ መልሶ መላልሶ/The crying of a nut is monotonous/	››	Social	››
O.የሞኝ ምስጋና የግንቦት ደመና/Fool’s thanks giving May Cloud/	››	Social	››
P.የሞኝ ቄስ ፀሎት ሁሌም አቡነዘበሰማየት/The praying of a fool priest is always our father living in the sky/	››	Religious		››
Q.የሞኝ ዘፈን ሁል ጊዜ አበባየ/Fool’s song always blossoms/	››	Social	››
R.የሞኝን ጠላ በለዉ በአንኮላ/Drink fool’s bear with a large tin/	››	Economic	››
S.ያበደች ጋለሞታ እናቷን ትመታ/A crazy widow beats her mother	››	Moral		››
T.የእብድ ገላጋይ ድንጋይ ያቀብላል/. A mad mediator delivers a stone/	››	Social and moral		››

N.B: the underlined words or phrase indicates the gendered orientation of the proverb.

As presented in Table 4, all the proverbs represented by letter “A” to “G” related to physical disability are derogatory in their intentional message they transmit. The results also showed that the proverbs analyzed have social, anatomical, recruitment, and health implications. Moreover, as presented in Table 4, proverbs represented by letter “A,” “C,” “D,” “E,” “F,” and “G” are gender-free, whereas proverb represented by letter “B” is gendered. This implies that there are both gender-free and gendered Amharic proverbs regarding physical disabilities.

Table 4. Physical disability related proverbial messages, their implication and gender orientation

Proverbs	Intentional message of proverbs	Implications of proverbs	Gender orientation of proverbs
A.ሰዉ ሲታጣ ይመለመላል ጎበጣ/In the absence of person, bended will be recruited/	››	Recruitment	Gender free
B.ቆማጣ ቢሮጥ ወንዝ አይሻገርም/Whatever he runs, a leper never cross a river/	››	Anatomical		Gendered
C.አንካሳ ያለዉ ደብር አዞ ያለዉ ባህር ሳይበጠበጥ አያድርም/A village where there is a lame man and a sea with crocodile will never be stable/	››	Social	››
D.አንድ ጣት በቆማጣ ቤት ብርቅ ናት/One finger is rare in a cramped house/	››	Anatomical severity	››
E.ደህና ሲታጣ ይመለመላል ጎባጣ/When a normal person is a absent, a bended will be recruited/	››	Recruitment	››
F.ለቆማጣ አንዲት ጣት ብርቅ ናት(A single figure is rare to a leper/	››	Anatomical severity	››
G.አንካሳን ማገም ድንጋይ መቆርጠም/Cupping a lame is like chewing a stone/	››	Health	››

N.B: the underlined words or phrase indicates the gendered orientation of the proverb.

As shown in Table 5, through the analysis of different disability-related proverbs, 11 implication themes have emerged. These themes had different recurring frequencies across the four disability types. The analysis also revealed that the social implication theme was common among the four types of disability. Moreover, the results revealed that social implications are the most recurring theme, whereas economic, beauty, religious, advising, and health themes are the least recurring.

Table 5. Recurring frequency of disability-related proverb implication themes

Implication themes	Impairment types				Total f(%)
	Hearing impairment	Visual impairment	Mental disability	Physical disability
1. Social	6	4	8	1	19(38.76)
2. Anatomical	1	4	-	3	8(16.33)
3. Psychological	1	5	-	1	7(14.29)
4. Cognitive	1	-	5	-	5(10.20)
5. Moral	-	-	2	-	2(4.08)
6. Advising	-	-	1	-	1(2.04)
7. Religious	-	-	1	-	1(2.04)
8. Recruitment	-	-	-	2	2(4.08)
9. Economic	-	-	1	-	1(2.04)
10. Beauty	-	-	1	-	1(2.04)
11. Health	-	-	-	1	1(2.04)
Aggregate total	8	13	20	8	49

As presented in Table 6, 100% of the proverbs related to hearing impairment, visual, impairment, mental disability, and physical disability were found to have derogatory messages. This implies that all analyzed Amharic proverbs related to the four disability types were derogatory in their intentional messages. Table 6 also shows that except for physical disability, the share of gendered proverbs is greater than that of the gender-neutral for the rest of the three disability types. Moreover, the findings revealed that from a total of 49 analyzed disability-related Amharic proverbs, 61.23% were gendered, whereas the rest were gender-neutral. Moreover, the results also revealed that except for 2.04% of mental disability-related proverbs, all other proverbs were found masculine.

Table 6. Proportion of proverbial messages and their gender orientation

Type of disabilities	Total # of proverbs analyzed	Proportion of derogatory proverbs n(%)	Proportion of complime –ntary proverbs n (%) proverbs	Proportion of proverbs having both complimentary and derogatory Messages n(%)	Proverbs’ gender orientation
					Gender free n(%)	Gendered n(%)	Masculine n(%)	Feminine n(%)
Hearing impairment	8	8(100)	-	-	3(37.5)	5(62.5)	8(100)	-
Visual impairment	14	14(100)	-	-	3(21.43)	11(78.57)	14(100)	-
Mental disability	20	20(100)	-	-	7(35)	13(65)	20(95.46)	1(5)
Physical disability	7	7(100)			6(85.71)	1(14.29)	7(100)	-
Overall	49	49(100)			19(38.76)	30(61.23)	48(97.96)	1(2.04)

5. Discussion of the results

This study aims to analyze disability-related Amharic proverbs’ intentional messages, implications, gender orientations, and proportions. To achieve these purposes, the required data were collected through document analysis and analyzed using content analysis. As the content analysis of the proverbs on which the three raters agreed disclosed that all the analyzed disability-related Amharic proverbs regarding hearing, visual, mental, and physical disabilities were derogatory. Their samples are elaborated as follows.

For instance, the intentional message of the proverb “ደንቆሮ ከሚያጫዉትኝ የሚሰማ ያዉጋኝ” (Meaning let a non-deaf talks me rather than a deaf plays me) to the deaf individual and other concerned body is derogatory because it declares that non-deaf individuals are not willing to play with a deaf rather they prefer to have a normal talk with a non-deaf. This means that the deaf are excluded, marginalized, and discriminated in any playing activities by the non-deaf individuals. Similarly, the intentional message of the proverb “አሳ ያለበት ባህርና እዉር ያለበት ደብር ሳይበጠበጥ አያድር” (A sea where there is fish and a village where there is a blind never be stable) to blind individuals and other concerned bodies is derogatory because it signifies that individuals who are blind are emotionally immature, arrogant, behaviorally disordered and deprive the peace of their village. Moreover, as this proverb equates blind individuals with a fish, it is a dehumanizing proverb. Likewise, the proverb “ሞኝ ዉሃ ሲወስድዉ ይስቃል” (A fool laughs when a run of water takes away him) has derogatory intentional message because it assumes that a fool is never conscious even when he is at risk. In the same vein, the proverb “አንካሳ ያለዉ ደብር አዞ ያለዉ ባህር ሳይበጠበጥ አያድርም” (A village where there is a lame man and a sea with crocodile will never be stable) has derogatory intentional message because it conveys that lame individuals are considered as having inappropriate behavior, emotionally immature and depriving the peace of their village. In addition, as this proverb equates a physically lame man with a crocodile, it dehumanizes physically disabled individuals.

As the findings of the present study disclosed, Amhara society seems to have a negative attitude (undesirable dispositions) towards disability because it created many different derogatory proverbs that have their own negative intentional messages. These messages could be communicated to individuals with impairments, families, communities, teachers, peers, colleagues, policy-makers, politicians, and curriculum developers. In particular, as the curriculum is significantly influential in changing social reality, these derogatory proverbs have bold curriculum implications. The presence of many disability-related derogatory Amharic proverbs in an Amharic-speaking society meant that individuals with disabilities living in such societies are highly marginalized, segregated, discriminated, dehumanized, excluded, and devalued in all life activities. The present findings are likely to imply that all the proverbs analyzed (100%) problematically equate disability with ignorance, inferiority, defect, incompetency, inability, immorality, unhealthy, unemployment, unethical mannerism, emotional immaturity, non-sensibility, and so on. Such a practice of discriminating against individuals with disabilities is expected to be weakened as a function of the three forms of curriculum (official, hidden, and societal).

However, although the three coders did not agree, the researcher feels that there are some disability-related Amharic proverbs that have positive messages. For example, the proverb “ቆማጣ ብለዉ ያዉ ቁምጥና ነዉ ሌላ ምን ይመጣል አለ” (When I said him a leper, he replied nothing new, I am a leper) which have complimentary message because it communicates the level of self-confidence demonstrated by the leper man regardless of his disability. This proverb also conveys the level of confidence that the leper man builds and demonstrates when normal individuals attempt to harass him because of his physical disability. Moreover, this finding shows the degree to which the disabled individual has accepted his disability, which is expected of other individuals with any sort of disability. In the same vein, the proverb “አንካሳ በልቡ እየሩስዓለም አሳቡ” (The lame man thought to himself as if he is in Jerusalem) could have complimentary message because it conveys that even though a lame man is unable to go to Jerusalem, he is spiritually thinking of it. This shows that lame individuals are spiritually active and interested in seeing the holy place Jerusalem. In addition, for the researcher, the proverb “ደንቆሮ መላ አያጣም” (A deaf rationalizes everything) has both derogatory and complimentary intentional messages. Its positive message is that a deaf person has the power to perceive things divergently and creatively and justifies everything, whereas its negative message is that a deaf person wrongly perceives things and gives his own meaning to the matter against reality. These complimentary proverbs have their own curriculum implications. This means that the three forms of curriculum should be integrated to reinforce such and other types of complimentary disability-related Amharic proverbs.

The findings of the present study are consistent with (Makaudze, 2016) who stated that there are disability-related African proverbs that transmit both negative and positive messages to individuals in particular and society in general. Nevertheless, the present findings are against claims because Setume asserted that proverbs are generally positive and a cautionary calling for humane treatment towards people living with disabilities. Consistent with the findings of the present study, Stone MacDonald and Butera (n.d.) reported that attitudes toward people with disabilities in East Africa have negative aspects. Similarly, Kumar (2013) claimed that different Hindustani proverbs are biased against disability. Kumar added that 99% of the proverbs are depicted negatively. In addition, the findings of this study are in line with the researchers' lived experiences. For instance, in the society where the researcher has grown up one of the commonly spoken derogatory Amharic proverbs related to hearing impairment is “ልቡም እንደ ጀሮዉ የደነቆረ” (His heart is senseless like his ear). The message conveyed through this proverb is that a deaf person not only has a hearing problem but also a cognitive problem. Likewise, one of the physical disability related derogatory proverbs used in the society where the researcher lives in is “ቆማጣ የሚያሰተቃቅፍ ብርድ” (The chill forced lepers to embrace each other). This means that although lepers are unable to embrace each other, the chill would force them to do so.

Nevertheless, the findings of this study are not in harmony with the researcher’s lived experience. For example, the proverb stated as “ጀሮዉን ነሳዉ እንጅ ልቡ ብርሃን ነዉ” (Even though he lost his hearing power, his heart is bright) is complimentary because it valued the disabled individual as having another potential. Similarly, the proverb stated as ”አይኑ እንጅ ልቡ አልታዎረም (It is his eye which is impaired but not his heart)” is a complimentary proverb often spoken in the society where the researcher is living in. This proverb values the blind individual as he is mentally smart.

Furthermore, the present study revealed that through the analysis of proverbs, 11 implication themes have emerged. These themes address different life aspects of individuals with disabilities. The themes were social, psychological, religious (spiritual), cognitive/perceptual/, economical, anatomical, advisory, beauty, recruitment, health, and morality. These themes entail that disability-related Amharic proverbs address many dimensions of life. Consistent with these findings, Kumar (2013) explained that proverbs related to disabilities have psychological and ethical implications. The implications across the four disability types are elaborated as follows:

Hearing impairment-related proverbs represented by letter “A,” “B,” “C,” “E,” “F,” and “G” have an explicit social implication because they convey the engagement of hearing impaired individual in social events like weeding, playing, crying, and singing, respectively, and engaged in social acts like igniting neighbor conflict. On the other hand, proverbs represented by letter “D” and “H,” respectively, have anatomical and psychological implications. This is because the former addresses the issue of the anatomical inability of the deaf to hear, and the latter conveys the emotional immaturity of the deaf.

Similarly, the visual impairment-related proverbs represented by letter “A,” “B,” “C,” “H,” and “K” have anatomical implications because they communicate the severity of the disability which is anatomical and structural. For instance, “ከእዉር ቤት አንድ አይና ብርቅ ነዉ” (In a blind house, one eyed is pet) implies that as total blindness is more challenging than partial blindness, the latter is more valued than the former. This shows that some disability proverbs focus on the severity of disability. However, visual impairment-related proverbs represented by letter “D” to “G” are implying psychological messages because all are telling us the confidence and overact of a blind man. In addition, the proverbs represented by letter “I,” “J,”“M,” and “N” have a social implication because they address the outlawing of a blind individual, ineffective cooperation among blinds, film making which is a social business and the social influence of the blind individuals, respectively.

In the same fashion, mental disability proverbs represented by letter “A,” “B,” “C”, “D,” “F,” and “H” have cognitive or perceptual implication because they show how a mentally disabled person perceives/conceptualizes/different physical and social realities like seasons, whole, information saving, risks, cursing, and resources respectively. On the other hand, the proverbs represented by letter “E,” “G,” “J,” “L,” “N,” “O,” “Q,” and “T” have social implications because they, respectively, deal with blood relation, playing, friendship, crying, singing, and conflict mediation, which all are social matters. Furthermore, as it suggests #not playing with a mad man to minimize the risk of losing an eye has advising implication. As they communicate issues like physical appearance, patience, praying, and property wastage, respectively, proverbs represented by letter “K,” “M,” “P,” and “R” have beauty, psychological, spiritual(religious), and economic implications. On the contrary, proverbs represented by letter “S” and “T” have a moral implication because all show how an individual who is mentally disorder do many things against the social norms like kicking self-mother and providing a stone when mediating quarreling individuals which a normal person never does.

The results of the present study also disclosed that physical disability-related proverbs represented by letter “A” and “E” have a recruitment implication because they communicate that the bended individuals will have a job opportunity if and only if there are no non-bended individuals, whereas the proverbs represented by letter “B” “D” and “F” have anatomical implications because they refer the malfunctioning organs and magnitude of physical disability. On the other hand, the proverb represented by letter “C” (i.e. A village where there is a lame man and a sea with crocodiles will never be stable) has social implications because it informs the audience that as a lame man has deviant behavior and arrogance, he deprives the peace of a village.

Furthermore, the analysis revealed that there are different gendered and gender-neutral Amharic proverbs related to hearing impairment, visual impairment, mental disability, and physical disability. Proportionally, 61.23% of the proverbs are gendered, but 38.76% are gender-neutral. Moreover, the findings confirmed that most gendered proverbs were masculine. To cite a few, #ቆማጣ ቢሮጥ ወንዝ አይሻገርም (Whatever he runs, a leper will never cross a river), እዉር ቢሸፈት ከጓሮ አያመልጥም (A blind never escape from backyard even if he outlawed), and ደንቆሮ ሲዘፍን አይኑን ጨፍኖ ነዉ (When a deaf person sings, he closes his eyes)” are gendered and masculine proverbs. This could signify that most Amharic proverbs spoken by the Amhara people to describe disabilities are mannish. This might imply that gendered proverbs portray disability as peculiar to men only, or males are more likely to be disabled than females. These findings are consistent with those reported by Adesida (n.d..) and Kebede (2014). For instance, Adesida states that some proverbs are gendered (masculine or feminine), while others are neutral.

6. Conclusion

The overall results show that all the analyzed disability-related Amharic proverbs are derogatory. They also have social, psychological, religious (spiritual), cognitive/perceptual, economical, anatomical, advising, beauty, recruitment, health, and moral implications that address all life dimensions of human beings. Most disability-related Amharic proverbs are also gendered and masculine in their orientation. As these findings have a clear curriculum implication, they will have a great contribution to the filed of disability and linguistics internationally and locally. The novel finding in the present study is that most of the proverbs are masculine.

7. Implications

The findings of the present study remind different actors/parties such as curriculum developers, teachers, parents, mass media professionals, artists, authors, linguists, and policymakers to work collaboratively to deconstruct the negative implicit and explicit messages and implications communicated by derogatory and gendered disability-related Amharic proverbs. However, actors should also do a lot to strengthen and reinforce the positive implicit and explicit messages and implications communicated by complimentary and gender-neutral disability-related Amharic proverbs.

Therefore, the curriculum of the course inclusion, which is given as a common course in undergraduate programs, other special needs education courses given at higher education institutions, and the Amharic curriculum in elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, and all other official curricula in Ethiopia should be designed to unearth both the derogatory and complimentary and gendered and gender-neutral Amharic proverbs that are spoken in relation to different disability types. Furthermore, it is advisable to weaken the derogatory and gendered and strengthen the complimentary disability-related Amharic proverbs in schools using the extracurricular activities or hidden curriculum. In line with these assertions, complimentary proverbs should be incorporated into the official curriculum aimed at improving the quality of life of individuals with disabilities. Setume added that the curriculum should reinforce and foster beliefs that cultivate positive relations with people with disabilities.

Moreover, the derogatory and gendered Amharic proverbs that are reflected in the form of undesirable dispositions and developed among Amharic-speaking societies should be weakened and deconstructed using formal, hidden, and societal curriculum forms. Consistent with this idea, Adesida (n.d..) asserted that formal education plays a role in demystifying, dispelling, and challenging some negative cultural myths and beliefs entrenched in history regarding disability. The three curriculum forms should also be in a position to reinforce disability-related complementary and gender-neutral Amharic proverbs. More specifically, the official curriculum should cultivate tolerance, patience, humility, and humanity in people with disabilities by considering the fact that everyone has his/her own form or level of handicap. This signifies that curriculum developers should be aware of and reconsider disability-related Amharic proverbs when preparing curriculum materials. The findings also inform teachers to be conscious of disability-related Amharic proverbs and not to reproduce traditional gender stereotypes when implementing the official curriculum. They should also be taken care of as a hidden curriculum when they are conveying messages to their students, staff, and parents using proverbs regarding disability. The findings also caution teachers to integrate official, hidden, and societal curricula professionally, ethically, scientifically, and morally in their professional endeavors to deconstruct derogatory and strengthen complimentary disability-related Amharic proverbs.

Ethiopian linguists should also develop proverbs that reflect the functions, activities, and abilities of individuals with disabilities and their contributions to the development of Ethiopia in particular and other parts of the world in general. There is also a need for scholars to create contemporary proverbs that portray the honest and uncolored pictures and the contribution of disabled individuals to the development of humanity. They should also work to deliberately improve gendered proverbs to portray gender neutrality, equality, and contemporariness in the social word regarding disability. Moreover, the results would remind individuals with disabilities not to pay attention to derogatory Amharic proverbs but to complimentary Amharic proverbs.

Finally, the researchers would like to recommend other researchers to conduct a study in the area using inferential statistics and other data collection tools, which the present study lacked.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2290223

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melese Negash

Melese Negash. I earned my Bachelor’s degree, Masters, and PhD in Pedagogical Science, Curriculum Studies, and Curriculum and instruction, respectively, from Bahir Dar University. Currently, I am an assistant professor at Debre Tabor University. I published six articles. I have participated in 36 research conferences. The present study is not part of any project or my dissertation rather it is a single independent academic work that is carried out only by me. For confirmation, the title of my dissertation is “INVESTIGATING THE PLACE OF AFFECTIVE DISPOSITIONS IN PRIMARY TEACHER EDUCATION CURRICULA: THE CASE OF AMHARA REGION”