Figurative language and Symbolism Manifested in Bukusu Cultural Songs and Proverbs

The paper investigates the place of song, dance and proverbs as manifested in selected cultural practices of Bukusu community. Song, dance and proverbs are notoriously utilized with each having roots and a focus to a specific event. The objective of the study include the role, occasion and function of such markers of culture that have been utilized during crowded festivities despite the Covid 19 pandemic. In light of this, the proposition made is that language and culture have a close interplay and promote social ties hence maintaining societal cultural festivities like marriage, burial, circumcision just to list a few. The trajectory created in such rich cultural festivities has been thwarted by the pandemic. Amid the pandemic, such manifestation of cultural rights are promoted either publicly or in hideout in a number of homes to ensure that culture is passed from one generation to the other. The argument raised in view of this, is one that ensures that culture is promoted through linguistic ability, oratory skills, song, music and dance with an aim of creating a cohesive society hence building a rich cultural society. Culture is communicated through literary and linguistic tools such as proverbs, song, symbolism and propaganda. Coupled with a myriad of cultural activities among the community the paper forms a base for an analysis of selected festivities that have gained prominence amid the ravages of the pandemic. The study adopts convenience sampling technique to identify subjects. Data was collected through participant observation and focus group discussion of the cultural activities within Bungoma County. The participants were drawn from notorious villages that have continuously promoted the cultural festivities through crowds despite the escalating numbers of Covid 19 victims. The data will be analyzed descriptively.


INTRODUCTION
Bukusu is a sub-tribe of the Abaluhya, which, in Lubukusu means "child of one common father in a polygamous family". Bukusu are one of the seventeen sub-tribes that comprise the Abaluhya cluster of the interlacustrine Bantu nations of East Africa from the larger Bantu speaking people, who have lived in East Africa since the first millennium A.D. The seventeen Luhya language dialects comprise: Lutiriki, Lubukusu, Luloogoli, Lunyore, Lukhayo, Lumarachi, Lusamia, Lwitakho, Lutsotso, Lukabarasi, Lutachoni, Luwanga, Lumarama, Lunyala west, Lunyala east, Lutura and Lwisukha (Angogo, 1980;Watera, 2013;Nandelenga, 2014, Watulo, 2018. Wasambo (2009) notes that the Abaluhya, unlike their neighbours the Luos, are not a single entity and do not constitute a homogenous group of people. Batachoni, the Bukusus inhabit Bungoma County in Kenya. The size of Bungoma County is approximately 3,074 square kilometers. It borders Kakamega to the East, Mount Elgon to the West, Trans Nzoia to the North and Busia to the South (Wasambo, 2009). Bukusu is the largest single ethnic unit in the Luhya land followed by the Maragoli. The dialects are classified as northern, central and southern with Lubukusu being categorized as northern. Lubukusu is a Bantu language, spoken in Western Kenya and parts of Rift valley. The County is divided into 4 divisions of 10 locations with the highest population density being in Kimilili. Goodenough (1996) posits that culture is a clear and interactive association of individuals that possess a given way of life. Culture creates a distinction between human and animals (Jafari and Mahadi, 2012). T. S. Eliot (1961) on the other hand claims that culture is a capital and away for creating all cultures and knowledge in for purposes of sharing human problem , helping economical emancipation and political stability. Culture is not an inherent inborn and will-less aspect but a social venture (Jafari and Mahadi, 2012). They argue that culture is transmitted through societal knowledge, social change, social relations and mass media. In view of this, culture is communicated through poems, stories, fictions, epics and myths hence they form the main ingredients of culture (Jafari and Mahadi, 2012). Strauss (1976) looks at language as a tool that relays universal realities through symbols and that is to say that, words are the embodiment and dynamic tool of cultural symbols. Maelo (2014) argues that the Bukusu community ritual oratory performance communicates most of the genres evident in the Bukusu society. In light of this, the performer utilizes several proverbs in his narration to reflect human society, whereby the proverbs are identifiable with context of the ritual performance. The song, dance and the proverbs are carefully chosen based on the ritual, context, participants and the occasion for any given cultural event. Maelo (2014) argues that specialized language use creates a sense of musicality and rhythm, which is realized in the oratory through repetition hence lending a musical quality that, reflects the basis of poetry tradition. The mastery of the content, structure and form of the songs is vested in the ritual performer who exudes skills and knowledge of the rendition. The language utilized in such a rendition is rich in symbolism, figurative nature conveying abstract ideas.
King'ori and Naituli (2018) explains that coded language are words, phrases and terms used by a given group of people to refer to an object, person or groups of people that can only be understood by the said community. Coded language is often communicated through imagery, proverbs, and idiomatic expressions, etcetera (Holtgraves and Kashima, 2009). Coded language, in Kenya, is used to exclude those they term as enemies since they do not speak the given community's language. The purpose of coding in language is to interact freely without inconvenience then harbor negative feelings about the outsiders. Although culture is communicated through, coded language but politicians have evidently utilized such a language to gain political mileage, oratory skills, to create propaganda and hoodwink the electorates (King'ori and Naituli, 2018). Thompson, eta l (2021) reports that song and music can be utilized as a means of education to create awareness in public health situations and clinical experience. Henceforth music influences knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours towards infectious diseases like Covid 19 which is not a new reality in African nations. It is evidently argued that artists have also incorporated have promoted messages and basic details about diseases such as HIV/AIDS Ebola through song, music and dance with an aim of cautioning the people to take preventive measures. It is evident that the Ghanaian artists in 2000, through a campaign 'stop AIDS: Love Life underpin the awareness about HIV/AIDS in the country to de-stigmatize HIV/AIDS and educate people to adopt good sex behaviour. The notable feature of songs such as repetition which creates memorability and recall enhances effectiveness of health educational messages Rachel G. A. Thompson, Jerry John Nutor and Julene K. Johnson 2021 Thompson (2021) points out that songs about corona virus in the parts of the world sought to inform the populace that the virus is real and not a hoax as some individuals thought. In some lyrics, the singers noted that the disease emerged from china and spread to Europe, USA then Africa. In most countries, the composers of such songs sang about the surging number of deaths while many people were hospitalized as a result of the disease. Some of the notable characteristics of the songs were drawn from ministry of health in the said countries and WHO, included, wash your hands, sanitize, maintain social distance, be neat and no hand shaking Rachel G. A. Thompson, Jerry John Nutor and Julene K. Johnson 2021 . Musungu (2016) notes that the Bukusu oral narratives are performed in established and predetermined contexts. Bauman 1992 :59 defines context as "the physical, mental, social surrounding which an oral narrative depends on." He posits that the relationship between oral literature and social life is deeply embedded in human events. Therefore, context plays diverse roles such as bringing people together to learn about the society and how people relate in narratives as well as societal expectations of people. The narration and performance of narratives involves aspects of conversational analysis such as; turn taking, adjacency pairs, turn allocation and turn construction. In more established narration during special functions, the performance is a preserve of the elderly, skilled and knowledgeable individuals.
The Bukusu verbal communications are engraved in proverbs and sayings, which are an embodiment of musical performances. The key role of proverbs is to educate condenm immorality and uphold morality. During performances elders use proverbs to show prowess and mastery of language which comes along with proficiency or and eloquence. In light of this aesthetic in language is highly regarded among the Bukusu especially during beer party, circumcision and marriage even dowry payment. Nandwa and Bukenya (1983: 85) postulate that, "Song and dance pervades the whole spectrum of African traditional life. There are songs for every stage and occasion of a person's life from cradle to the grave". Music is an important aspect of the Bukusu community's culture. Music in African communities is functional (Okafor and Emeka 1998: 141). In fact, this means that every social occasion has a specified musical performance that is acceptable in the community. Okpewho (1990) underscores the great role of the narrator when he posits that the narrator's ability to utilize his voice and body to convey the emotions of characters and comment on specific actions of such characters is basic for achievement of initial aesthetic harmony with the audience. In this arguments he suggests that without the narrator, the narrative performance would be an in futile venture. The role of the narrator among other components of narration like dance and voice are key in communicating the intended meaning (Musungu, 2016). Okpewho further captures the opacity of songs in oral narratives when he states that "music plays an inestimable role in the oral narrative performance; and some bards Sometimes have a tendency to indulge the musical feeling which the song interludes within the tale tend to enhance" (p.120). Nida (1998: 29) holds the view that 'Language and culture are two symbolic systems. Everything we say in language has meanings, designative or associative, denotative or connotative. The language form we use contain meanings, that are not in the same sense since it is associated with culture and culture is more broad than language.' Jiang 2000 argues that language simultaneously reflects culture, and is influenced and shaped by it. In the broadest sense, it is also the symbolic representation of a people, since it comprises their historical and cultural backgrounds, as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking (Jiang, 2000). Brown (1994:165) describes the two as follows: 'A language is a part of a culture and a culture is a part of a language; the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without losing the significance of either language or culture.' In a word, culture and language are inseparable. It is argued that language is the mirror of culture; hence, people can see cultural aspects through its language. The visible part is the language, with a small part of culture; the greater part, lying hidden beneath the surface, is the invisible aspect of culture.

METHOD
Bungoma County was selected because of the rich subjects for study, proficiency of the language, availability of the respondents and the researcher's proximity to the site. The study adopts convenience sampling technique. Dornyei (2003) argues that in this kind of sampling, members of the target group are selected because they possess certain practical criteria like geographical proximity and availability at a given time. Aiken (1997) adds that "convenience samples are majorly purposive because besides accessibility; subjects also possess relevant qualities for investigation and study." The study adopts participant observation and focus group discussions to gather data. Patton, 1990 proposes that observation is commonly used method especially in studies that deal with behavioural sciences. He opines that the purpose of participant observation is to develop an insiders view of the setting and the individuals understudy. Binnet 2003 adds that the method is used when data on actual cultural practices are under investigation.
Focus group discussion is also the most reliable tool that is used to explore beliefs, attitudes and behaviours in a target group. Therefore, natural communication on feelings, attitudes, perceptions, motives is well captured without hurting the participant's moral civility. In this study, two focus groups were created from members of the community, whereby one group of five members comprised the reknowned elders who are a keen to performing Bukusu rituals like khuswala kumuse and khubiita. The second group comprised six clan elders, from five clans, which were Baluili clan, Batemulani clan, Balonja clan, Baengele clan, Bakimwei clan

Proverbs Proverbs about death
Afwile kumurwe-he died the head Afwile bikele -He died the legs The two proverbs are used interchangeably based on the context. The proverbs are mostly used in funeral functions of the deceased and elderly member of the community. The two proverbs carry with them symbolism drawn from body parts ie the head and the legs. The head means the deceased man left behind a disorganized family while the legs refer to a successful family after the demise of a parent.
The former means that when an elder man dies and has not brought up the children to be morally upright such a proverb is used to mean that the deceased left behind a disorganized group of children who cannot either make wise decisions in gatherings or depended upon by the family or and the society at large. It is also arguably noted that such a group of children might not have succeeded in a number of the spheres of life such as economically, socially or academically. Consequently, a proverb is also used to refer to the children that the deceased left who might have resorted to thugery, robbery, theft, burglary and many other felonies to make a living.
Therefore, if the former proverb is used in funeral gathering of an elderly man then it does also mean the dead left the children who are not level headed. Therefore, the deceased left children who cannot be relied on in terms of societal wellbeing of others, themselves, friends and neighbours or relatives at large.
The second one means the dead left behind successful children in terms of economic emancipation, and academic or professional progress. In this family, it is noted that his children can make sober decisions in festivities and social gatherings. They are dependable on many aspects of life because they are either wise/knowledgeable or economically stable.
Ali nomwana mala? Does he have the child? This is a third saying on death and quite evident in funeral session of elderly men. The hidden meaning manifested in such a saying is question whether the deceased left behind a child. It in interesting that, even when the late had a number of children then people do ask if he left behind a child. In view of this leaving behind a child indicates that the elderly seek to find out whether the deceased has a reliable child from the number of the many children that he had.
In this regard, within the Bukusu community a child that is referred to in this wise saying is one that is constructive, progressive, and morally upright. Furthermore, such a child is one who might be consulted on family issues and ready to give guidance on a number of issues within and outside the family parameters.

Proverbs on sex
Kumunandera kubolela wakulia-fruit tells whoever ate it Silongo siera wasillia-clay soil killed whoever ate it The two proverbs are cautionary in nature utilizing the symbolism of wild fruits and a special type of clay soil that is always licked by cattle when they go the riverside to drink water. The figurative language evident in the first proverb is that Kumunandera is a type of a wild fruit that is poisonous that whoever eats it dies. In the second proverb, Silongo is a part of soil that is always licked by cows at the riverside just as the salt block bought from shops.
Symbolically, the two proverbs offer warning to youths who cohabite, misbehave sexually that HIV/AIDS is really and kills. Therefore, Kumunandera and Silongo in this context refer to HIV infected individuals mostly ladies, and eating on the other hand is playing sex. Therefore, it is noted that those who play acts of sex recklessly with HIV/AIDS infected individuals die at long last. In view of this, individuals are advised not to move around carelessly and play sex without caution since AIDS is a disease that is transmitted through acts of sex.

Proverbs on wealth/poverty
Newenya ofwe ne kumutambo, obukula litala wacha wombakha khumeno. If you want to die poor, put a cowshed on your teeth. Newenya ofwe ne kumutambo obukula litala wombakha khumakusi. If you want to die poor, build a cowshed on your testis.
The proverbs communicate a hidden meaning on the usage or expenditure of resources. The word litala in both proverbs, which refers to a cowshed, means property in terms of land, farm produce and livestock. In the fast proverb the paradigm (khumeno) teeth, means squandering the property by selling it anyhow then spending money to live lavishly or simply put it, using the money to spend either in hotels or restaurants to eat and pay for other bills while in the said places.
The second proverb carries along with it elements of hyperbole and humour. Hyperbolically, you cannot build a cowshed on testis while in the same exaggeration we find an iota of humor that leaves listeners laughing.
Though, it looks like an overstatement but the meaning generated is to warn and or caution men from selling the property in terms of land, livestock or farm produce then use the money for prostitution or cohabiting. This proverb is a precursor and a warning for individuals who perpetuate such a view of being spendthrifts since poverty awaits them because such a way of spending does not leave any with savings.
Semantically, the two proverbs have the same meaning but vary in terms of syntactical organization. Pragmatically, they warn people from squandering the family property, which leads to poverty or someone dying poor.
The final words are what make the fast syntactical structure different from the second one but this does not change the morphological word class order.

Proverbs on marriage
Sikhula sicha enju when something grows old it goes to the house Nokhwesa siuna okhwesa ne ndakala When you pull a tree with branches, it comes with dirt. The two proverbs are majorly used in marriages sessions but under varied contexts. The hidden message within the two proverbs are directed to the young who is about to marry.
In the fast proverb, the young man is advised in a figurative language that in case one reaches the age of marriage he should marry. The figurative connotation in the proverb is that Sikhula (aging) means the person who is growing old. In light of this, any young man who gets to a right age of marriage, the proverbs in figuratively language means he should look for a house; simply means that he should marry.
The second proverb is both a warning and cautionary to one that intends to marry a woman who was earlier married then divorced or separated but had given birth to children. The advice provided within the proverb is that in case you marry such a woman then such a woman will come with her children who might fully depend on you for socio economic welfare. The tree called siuna has many branches and once you pull it on a road it comes along with dirt in terms of papers, leaves, sticks and any other type of dirt on the road.
Figuratively, siuna refers to the mother who gets married while endakala (dirt) are the children that the mother comes with to the new home. The children are called dirt because, in the fast instance they were sired by the man marrying their mother and their upbringing might not have been proper and carry along with themselves behaviours and characters that might be a challenge to the man to deal with. The characters and behaviours that the children exudes needs an exposition and clear information about their background which might take their father some time to control them since he has little or no knowledge about it.

Songs
Circumcision songs in Bukusu land are specifically sang based on the season, and even the occasion. Therefore, a cultural event like circumcision entails songs that are composed and sang during specific times till the initiate is circumcised.
The circumcision songs are categorized into; songs sang when the initiate moves around playing jingles to call the relatives to witness the circumcision ceremony as the singers follow him with sticks, twigs and simis. The second category falls in songs sang at night on the eve of circumcision. The third category is a song sang when the initiate is heading to the riverside, where at the riverside he lies in water then smeared with mud to numb the body so that the initiate does not feel pain during circumcision. Consequently, a specific song is sung when the initiate is leaving the riverside then after circumcision there is a further song that is sung to celebrate.

Songs sung when the initiate/s is/are leaving the river
Hoo hoo musinde wee hoo hoo the initiate you Hoo hoo musinde ateremaka ache ebunyolo hoo hoo the initiate fears should go to luo land hao hao hoo hoo hao hao hoo hoo embalu yamemea khubolela circumcision is painful I tell you The song is sung with a jubilant and celebratory mood. It is sung when the initiate is accompanied by a group of people from the riverside mostly men or young men who are circumcised traditionally. The circumcised young sing the song or elderly men, who have had a grasp of the culture because such a song entails a mention of some traces of culture for example the origin of circumcision. As the initiate heads home to be circumcised the playing of jingles is optional and if played they should be played with a slow rhythm.
The conditionality put forward to the initiate is that he should not blink or look side by side or backwards but instead look ahead. A further requisite condition is that women and members of a community or outsiders are not allowed to be on the forefront when the initiate is getting home to be circumcised, even the uncircumcised people are not supposed to stand in front or cross the path of the crowd accompanying the initiate. The song is predominantly sung during the time the initiate is heading home to be circumcised. The singers stop singing the song as they approach the initiate's home, approximately one hundred meters away from the circumcision ground. During this period, the father or the uncle mostly circumcised holds the initiate's hand and accompanies him to the circumcision ground which is a mall circle well marked with flour and with some pieces of magazines or papers where the initiate's blood will drop on.
The symbolism perpetuated and presented in the song is that those who fear circumcision should go to place believed that people do not get circumcised like Luo land or any such a place. Therefore, the song discourages acts of cowardice among the youths, and teaches the youths the history of Bukusu circumcision.
A song sang when the initiate is heading to the river Bachonga hao hao bachonga sharpen hao hao sharpen Musinde hao orao bachonga the initiate hao put it be sharpened Bachonga musinde hao they sharpen the initiate hao Eeh orao bachonga eeh put there it will be sharpened A song sang when the initiate is heading the riverside to be smeared with mud. Young men or old men who are circumcised traditionally sing the song, while the initiate plays jingles heading to the riverside. The initiate is mostly half naked with a short and a piece of meat cut from the cows rumen is placed in the neck and the entire body is smeared with cow dung.
The symbolism and figurative language manifested in the song is to urge the initiate to be courageous during circumcision. In addition, the song means that the initiate should 'allow the circumciser to sharpen his genitals' which means the initiate should withstand the actual act of circumcision or allow the circumciser to perform an operation.

A song sung when calling relatives or on the eve of circumcision
There are many songs sung during this period but here, the highlight is on one particular song that is notoriously singing to castigate some vice. Helen komanda akomanda sikuli nekera babaandu Helen is a head of a school but heads the school and kills people Babuya ekholo embi kumusinde babuya is a bad tribe Okhatima wayila omukhana mubuya don't marry a girl from babuya clan Babandu khu chwele khuenja chikura ne wafukho munchu kekhale khungubo people at chwele look for votes then the mole is sitting on clothes The song condemns one woman from a clan called babuya, which practices witchcraft. However, the song ridicules the woman's behaviour but the caution is on the whole clan or any other community with such an immoral character. It castigates behaviours of clans that are noted of harboring witches and the community uses the occasion of circumcision in such huge gatherings to condemn such a vice.
The song talks of a principal of a school, who hails from the tribe of babuya, who leads the school then kills people. The initiate is warned not to marry from such a community that kills people. The song also focuses on babuya, a community that rears wild animals such as a mole for purposes of witchcraft. Although the song is sung during circumcision period and only focuses on one community to communicate the idea but this might be a message to the entire Bukusu nation to rebuke, castigate condenm and shun such an outrageous behaviour of witchcraft.

CONCLUSION
From the foregoing discussion song, dance and proverbs are core aspects of culture within the Bukusu community. It can be conclusively argued that the language of songs and proverbs as manifested in some cultural occasions can be figurative during performance. The community has a well laid down set of songs that are sung and performed on specific sessions during circumcision period. The songs are sung to encourage the initiate to face the circumciser's knife and even castigate the irresponsible and somewhat unbecoming behaviours among the community members. The language of proverbs and sayings is symbolic and just like other communities, it is only the members of that have the preserve and audacity to understand and interpret the proverbs.

RECOMMENDATION
This paper has focused on isolated cases of proverbs evident in Bukusu cultural festivities. It is evidenced that the discussion raised here about proverbs, is majorly an advice and warning to the members of the society of issues pertaining both social and economic spheres of life. Based on the discussion, the researcher proposes that research on specific categorization of proverbs should be carried out to unearth the underlying functions, semantics and structure of proverbs in various festivals. The research also proposes that song in every community, as a marker of culture should be studied in line with dance and accompaniments that make the festival lively to the attendees and or the participants.