1 Introduction

The Yoruba people are the main ethnic group in southwestern Nigeria, and scholars have conducted extensive analysis and evaluation of Yoruba proverbs, including their form, historical value, value and development issues, philosophical analysis, symbiotic relationship with corruption concepts, judicial system evaluation, and metaphorical representation of women in proverbs. However, there has been no research on the representation of disabilities and disability phenomena in Yoruba proverbs. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring how Yoruba proverbs serve as language resources for cultural expression, and how these proverbs reflect the personality traits and traditional wisdom of the Yoruba people.

2 Theory of disability

The paper discusses three models of disability theory: moral model, medical model, and social model. These models provide an external perspective on how disability is understood in society and explore the perceived reasons for disability. Disability not only attracts scholars in the field of medical science, but also in the fields of philosophy, applied philosophy, bioethics, and medical ethics. In social sciences, disability is seen as the result of certain barriers created by socio-cultural institutions. The social model emphasizes addressing the marginalization, oppression, and discrimination faced by people with disabilities, advocating that society should adapt to the needs of people with disabilities and support them as citizens to enjoy equal opportunities with others. The main principle of the social model is that the full participation of people with disabilities is not closely related to their individual abilities, but rather to the social structures that hinder their participation. Unlike medical models, social models do not view disability as a physical functional issue that needs to be repaired to conform to normative values, but rather emphasize the limitations that society imposes when it does not provide equal social and structural support. Marxist theory also holds that the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of people with disabilities are a result of the political and economic system, emphasizing that disability is primarily a result of social barriers and must be linked to calls for social change. Both social models and Marxist inspired social models believe that environmental barriers and social attitudes are important components of disability, which can promote a positive view of disability and work towards the goal of an accessible society.

3 Methodology and data analysis

The research methods and data analysis were introduced, including 20 Yoruba proverbs selected from published materials. The researchers chose these proverbs due to their familiarity with the Yoruba language and culture. The analysis is divided into six parts: proverbs related to madness or intellectual disability, proverbs related to hunchback, proverbs related to leprosy, proverbs related to blindness, proverbs related to deafness, and proverbs related to limping. These proverbs focus on the imagery and connotations they project. In addition to textual materials, research methods and data analysis also include conversations, interviews, and introspection with native speakers.

4 Summary and conclusion

Explored how the negative image of people with disabilities in Yoruba proverbs is transmitted and conceptualized through metaphors, and how this representation has a negative impact on the identity, dignity, rights, privileges, and freedoms of people with disabilities, leading to their marginalization and discrimination. Although these proverbs contain humor, they still carry social stigma. The author believes that expressions related to people with disabilities should be conceptualized to support and promote initiatives that address their needs, rather than mocking them. Although these proverbs truly reflect the situation of people with disabilities, they violate their rights and dignity. Yoruba metaphorical proverbs reveal an extreme dichotomy between "non disabled" and disabled individuals, promoting social inequality. The dehumanizing rhetoric in these proverbs deprives them of their value as human beings. When conceptualizing proverbs for people with disabilities, the two basic forms of kinship (blood relationship and cohabitation relationship) and their importance in Yoruba culture were not taken into account, resulting in the isolation of people with disabilities from "able-bodied people". We need to change the perspective on people with disabilities in Yoruba cultural philosophy and social practice. In view of this, it is necessary to create post proverbs or supplement proverbs as substitutes for traditional proverbs and oppose them. The global awareness of eliminating prejudice and discrimination against people with disabilities should become a springboard for creating new proverbs that can prevent marginalization, exclusion, and rehabilitation of people with disabilities, and promote their human dignity. Recently, there has been global concern about changing social attitudes towards people with disabilities and correcting unfair behavior towards them. The author agrees with R á j í Oy è l à d é's viewpoint that there is now strong evidence to suggest that using supplementary proverbs instead of original proverbs has become the norm for the younger generation of Yoruba language. For example, the following two proverbs indicate this complementary proverb, which is a substitute and deviates from traditional forms: (1) If a mad dog can recognize its owner, it will not bite people. (2) If a mad dog can recognize its owner, it should be killed immediately to prevent it from biting people. The validity of the first proverb may have been compromised; The second one relies on rationality and logic, rather than emotion. When new proverbs are thoughtfully conceptualized, they will form a critical trajectory between the past and present, establishing an important and critical connection between Yoruba cultural philosophy's views on people with disabilities and contemporary attention to these individuals.