Traditional Jamaican proverb · taught in Kingston, Hanover and Manchester
Emti barel mek di muos naiz.
The empty barrel makes the most noise.
The loudest talkers usually know the least.
single-clause indicative, metaphor
An object stands in for a person and is never named as one, and three m sounds, in empty, mek and mos, pull the short line tight.
This one is taught in Kingston, Hanover 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 →