Muthu ndi muthu nga vhaṅwe vhathu
Literally: “A person is a person through other people”
Meaning: Your humanity is realised through your relationships with others; we depend on one another and a person becomes fully human only in community. This is the Tshivenda expression of ubuntu/vhuthu.
Muṱhihi a u ṱusi mathuthu
Literally: “One finger cannot take boiled mealies out of the pot”
Meaning: One person alone is powerless; cooperation is needed. You should keep good relations with others because you cannot manage everything on your own.
Mutsinda ndi khwine, shaka ndi bulayo
Literally: “A non-relative is better; a relative is a killing”
Meaning: Relatives often cause more trouble and harm than outsiders do; a kinsman can be the death of you.
Musadzi wa muluki u hwala nga tshiteto
Literally: “The basket-maker's wife carries her things in a worn-out winnow”
Meaning: A craftsman serves everyone but his own household goes without; like the saying that the tailor's wife goes in rags.
Hu ambuwa vhuṅanga; vhukololo a vhu ambuwi
Literally: “Medicine-craft can cross the river; royal rank cannot cross over”
Meaning: A skill or profession keeps its value anywhere, but inherited status does not travel; away from home, high birth counts for nothing while a useful trade still does.
A hu na muthu a faho a si na tsevhi
Literally: “There is no person who dies without having a warner”
Meaning: Nobody meets disaster without first receiving some warning or hint; the difficulty lies not in the lack of warning but in acting on it.
Muḓinḓa ha huli
Literally: “A messenger never grows old”
Meaning: A servant is sent on errands no matter how old he gets; one's duties or station do not change with age. Often used of those kept in subordinate roles indefinitely.
Mukange a fa, vhana vha Mukange vha a fhalala
Literally: “When Mr Guinea-fowl dies, the chicks of Mukange scatter”
Meaning: When a great man or head of a household dies, his dependants disperse and the household breaks up.
Thakha ndi mulambo, a i lengi u fhalala
Literally: “Wealth is a river; it does not take long to flow away”
Meaning: Riches are like a flooded river that quickly subsides; wealth is fleeting and can vanish suddenly, so do not rely on it.
Zwivhuya a zwi ḓali, zwa ḓala zwi a fhalala
Literally: “Good things are not plentiful, and when they do appear they soon scatter away”
Meaning: Good fortune is rare and short-lived; enjoy good things while they last because they do not endure.
Ḓuvha ḽa maḓumbu dzi lala na mavhoḓa adzo
Literally: “On a day of storms the cows are allowed to keep their calves with them for the night”
Meaning: Circumstances alter cases; necessity overrides the usual rules. When conditions are hard, ordinary custom gives way.
Dza musanda dzi ṱahula tshene
Literally: “The royal cattle merely pull up weeds”
Meaning: People from the chief's household are excused; those in power can do no wrong in the eyes of others, and their faults are overlooked.
U anetshelwa ndi u dzimiwa
Literally: “To be told (a report) is to be stinted”
Meaning: A second-hand account always leaves something out; it is better to go and see for yourself than to rely on what you are told.
U khakha ndi ha muthu
Literally: “To err is of a person”
Meaning: To make mistakes is human; people living together will inevitably wrong one another, so forgiveness is needed to keep the peace.
Wa khukhuna wa luombeni, thunda i vhonala
Literally: “You crawl under the precipice (thinking you are unseen), but your back is visible from above”
Meaning: What people try to do in secret will eventually be discovered; wrongdoing cannot stay hidden forever.
Nyamuvhuya ha shayi thando
Literally: “Mrs Pleasant is never without a scheme”
Meaning: Everyone has a flaw or shortcoming; no one is wholly good or perfect, so you should not place complete trust in anyone. The fuller documented form is 'Nyamuvhuya ha shai thando, a sa vha mbava ndi muloi' — 'Mrs Pleasant is not without fault: if she is not a thief, she is a witch' — i.e. even the pleasant-seeming person has hidden faults.