Wi likkle but wi talawa.

Traditional Jamaican proverb · taught in Farin

Written in Cassidy-JLU

Wi likl bot wi talawa.

Word for word

We are little but we are strong.

What it actually means

Small island, mighty people — Jamaica's reach across the world is far bigger than its map. Carry that strength with you a farin.

How it is built

two-clause contrasting parallelism, verbless

Five words, no verb in either half, wi opening both; the only moving part is but, which is what makes this a contrast and not a list.

Where it comes up

This one is taught in Farin.

More proverbs

No kya how bird fly, im haffi come dung fi wata.However far you roam abroad, you must return to your source — home, family, roots. The diaspora always circles back to yaad.
Howdy an tanky no bruk no square.Greetings and thanks cost you nothing — always give them freely.
Tek time get deh teday; mek haste get deh tomarra.Rushing costs you time — careful work gets there first.
Empty barrel mek di mos' noise.The loudest talkers usually know the least.

Sources

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.

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