Traditional Jamaican proverb · taught in St. Andrew, Trelawny and Manchester
Di haiya mongki klaim, di muor im ekspuoz.
The higher the monkey climbs, the more he exposes himself.
The more you rise or show off, the more your flaws are on display.
two-clause parallelism, comparative frame
Both halves open with di and a comparing word, so the second is locked to the shape of the first; only the two end words actually change.
This one is taught in St. Andrew, Trelawny and Manchester.
The grammatical categories this description uses — clause type, mood, and the sound patterning noted where it carries the proverb — follow Unseth's framework for describing a proverb rather than only translating it.
The proverb is folk material. The description of how it is put together follows the framework in the work above; the translation and the commentary are mine.
Hear it, and collect the rest →