Hausa historically is primarily the name of a language rather than of a people. From generative phonology to optimality theory yor 857. Understanding the yoruba religious beliefs and concepts. It is customary to offer the first serving of any meal to egun. A pictorial format with sound clips attached to every word. Yoruba introduction, location, language, folklore, religion. It is written to help the beginning student basic knowledge in learning the acquire a language. God in yoruba belief and the theistic problem of evil john a. The earliest attempt to reduce this language into writing was in the early forties of the last century, when the church missionary society, with the immortal rev.
The same combination of vowels and consonants has different meanings depending on the pitch of the vowels whether they are pronounced with a high voice or a low voice. A morphological analysis of loan words among yoruba. Yoruba families would cringe at the idea of putting monetary value on the head of a daughter. Yoruba is a language spoken natively by about thirty million people in nigeria and in the neighbouring countries of the republic of benin and togo. According to the international african institute 1980. The yoruba language is chosen for this paper as an illustration of a socially engendered. Learning this yoruba language audio presentation of the yoruba self introduction expressions will help the yoruba learner attain correct pronunciation. Pdf an introduction to language and linguistics semantic.
Greeting is a way of showing respect to each other, not only. Yoruba language online learning and teaching program year. In this sense, a dialect is regarded as a geographical variety of a language, spoken in a certain area, and being different in some linguistic items from. Introducing chinese language to yoruba speakers orientalism sinology chinese china textbook 2016 ebook 34. The museum was the first to be established in nigeria when it opened in 1945. Introduction to the grammatical patterns of yoruba language bogbo d gb y l n t g m. Peace corpsniger an introduction to the hausa language. Julius muange has been teaching swahili as a spoken language for over 25 years.
Traditional yoruba wedding process stepbystep from. May 09, 2018 a people of rich soil and full of mystery, the yoruba people of nigeria dance to the beats of the bata drum under the moonlight, chanting away to the mother goddess, ibase yemoja, olugberere i give praise to you yemoja, the one who brings goodness, offering their gratitude to oduduwa, the godfather of the land this is a tribe with a story. The yoruba have never seen a need to develop any sort of a creed, establish a hierarchy, or otherwise institutionalize their religion in any way. W ward 1952 an introduction to the yoruba language iii. Usually presented in short sentences full of rhythm. The focus of the yoruba religion has never been salvation of any sort, but focuses more on living a great life right now. Henry venn as secretary, organized a mission to the yoruba country under the leadership of one of their agents, the rev. There is a substantial body of literature in the yoruba language, including books, newspapers, and pamphlets. It is also used widely as a second language in this area. Wed like to read about businessrelated topics, including job searching and unusual magazine publishing stories across multiple genres, as well as sports and travel. Yoruba introduction, location, language, folklore, religion, major holidays, rites of passage mauritania to nigeria. It is very important to pay attention to proper pronunciation right from the outset. Citing an example of the form hl, she observes that there is a fall on the second syllable that is heard as a. Ede yoruba is a language spoke n in west africa, most prominently south western nigeria.
It is also used as a language of formal instruction and a curriculum. The teaching and learning of yoruba as a second language in nigeria and as a. Workbook introduction w elcome to the workbook for learning spanish. The main fulani of west africa are dark blue on the map. Each orisha has a number, symbol, color, and day of the week, that is sacred to it, as well as foods.
For this reason, the lyrics are often compilations from many different sources, and are usually difficult to translate literally. Yoruba is spoken by more than 20 million people in southwestern nigeria and parts of benin and togo. Yoruba introduction, location, language, folklore, religion, major. Yoruba words for introduction include ifihan and akintade. Yoruba is in the niger congo language family and is tonal with three contrastive level tones. Yoruba oral prose itan aroso does not have any serious feature due to its narrative nature. Yoruba is considered to be one of the four official languages of. It is like story telling with a narrator and audience having a motive of establishing facts or beliefs. African countries, nigeria, benin republic, togo and sierra leone, the largest concentration being in nigeria. You may not be perplexed to enjoy all ebook collections introduction to. There are many yoruba dialects, but the translation of the bible by a yoruba speaker, bishop samuel crowther, in 1884 led to the development of a standard written yoruba that has been widely adopted across the dialects.
English and yorubalanguage literacy in southwestern nigeria between. The comprehensive and easy to understand guide to learning the yoruba language of nigeria. Would nostradamus yoruba essay writing in language predicted that the damage will cost nearly ten years. The introduction of the formal school system into yoruba at about the middle of the 19th century, however, appears to have affected the informal or traditional. Yoruba language and literature african studies oxford. Ward 1952 an introduction to the yoruba language iii. The yoruba are said to be prolific sculptors, famous for their terra cotta works throughout the 12th and 14th century. Pdf english to yoruba machine translation system using rule. As it were in the ancient times, yoruba people always attach philosophical and religious connotations to whatever they produced or created. According to a unesco 2005 overview of the subject, language endangerment is an. In fact, the yoruba men and women rescued from slavery by the british warship and settled in freetown in the present republic of sierra leone at the beginning of 19 th century were known and called aku which is the prefix that is attached to all types of greetings in yoruba. Some claim that this was an intricate part of the survival of their. Introduction in this paper we examine the tonal behavior of six types of yoruba enclitics. The language of poetry is usually richer than standard language.
Finally the sound system of english and yoruba language. As a pluricentric language, it is primarily spoken in a dialectal area spanning nigeria, benin and togo, with smaller migrated communities in cote divoire. Pdf the yoruba language and literature in the 21st century. They are, in fact, not a single group, but rather a collection of diverse people bound together by a common language, history, and culture. Kekere yoruba study modulea basic introduction to the yoruba l anguage 2. We propose a practical iterative learning approach that factors in the basic features and.
Yoruba language and also provides guide on the principle of tonal. Its never too late to start teaching your child yoruba. Though there is mention of a good and bad heaven, most followers hope for reincarnation which in this tradition is a good thing, as opposed to say buddhism where its something to be escaped. Its loan words are mostly from arabic, english, hausa and igbo languages. Author karade traces the concepts of the yoruba religion through its entrance into the americas via haiti, puerto rico, brazil and. We show that in standard yoruba, an obligatory contour. Her research interests include yoruba language, culture and history, yoruba women and creole studies. I would recommend it as mustread text for all yorubas and indeed all interested nigerians, beninois and brazilians. Each orisha has a number, symbol, color, and day of the week, that is. As a of this process of language shift, the ilorin yoruba dialect is different from other yoruba dialect such as ekiti, ijebu ondo, oyo dialect etc jimoh, 1994 conclusion. After introducing the region with maps and descriptions of the coast and its settlements, the author commences his wideranging and superbly researched assessment of. It reminds us of the beauty, pain, violence and resounding relevance of yoruba culture easily mirrored in other african ethnicities. Introduction yoruba tribe makes up about 35 million people in total with majority constituent from nigeria about 21% of nigerias population, 1. The oduduwa myth and the farce of yoruba unity brunel.
Thus in ida wards 1952 work an introduction to the yoruba language, she remarks that p. Dada adelowo introduction this paper is motiated by the need. According to akinlabi and connell 2007, interest and perhaps works on the state of. The introduction of nigerian languages hausa, igbo, and yoruba, as l2 at. Handheld, indigenous language, mobile, nigeria, tutor and yoruba. The body in yoruba preface index of tables and figures table 1. God in yoruba belief and the theistic problem of evil. The yoruba speaking group inhabits benin and nigeria. Yoruba language has undergone an intense transculturalization and creolization in the carribean.
Apr 06, 2021 although the yoruba term for bridewealth literally translates owo ori as money for the head, in actual fact, this practice has, among the yoruba, little to do with the transfer of economic resources as price for the wifetobe. The yoruba language chapter 2 the history of the yorubas. The museum once housed over a thousand tombstone figures or images. Improving and sustaining yoruba language through a.
She is completing her manuscript on yoruba grammar. Yoruba people have hundreds of aphorisms, folktales, and lore, and they believe that any lore that widens peoples horizons and presents food for thought is the beginning of a philosophy. It is a very brief introduction presenting only the very basic elements of theyoruba language including basic pronunciation and vocabulary. The introduction consists of yoruba alphabetsvowels oral and nasal, and consonants, as well as a description and use of tones. Drawing examples from some dialects of yoruba he bases his argument on the fact that instead of the process of coalescence, yoruba language experiences simply a process called vowel survival which is a process that recognizes in a contraction more than one variant of the same word that differ only in their initial vowels bamgbose1984. The effective speakers of the language in the country are about 35% of the countrys total population. The other yoruboid languages include igala and itsekiri. Yoruba is a tonal language of the nigercongo family and is spoken by about thirty million people, predominantly in western nigeria but with numerous speakers also in the neighboring republic of benin and togo. The yoruba language belongs to the congokordofanian language family. Yoruba cultural influences are strong in the caribbean and brazil, and poetic texts associated with the worship of the. Yoruba language, one of a small group of languages that comprise the yoruboid cluster of the defoid subbranch of the benuecongo branch of the nigercongo language family. Yoruba religion has a direct link to a substantial segment of american society for.
He is also a professor of psychology and anthropology at albany this book will help you to learn yoruba quickly and easily. The structure of sentences david lightfoot and ralph fasold 4. T he yoruba language has been classed among the unwritten african languages. Yoruba language belongs to the kwa family of languages, under the benue congo or niger congo family.
The impact of yoruba language on the spoken english of. Bewaji introduction in the pioneering works in african religious scholarship by indigenous and western writers, idowu, mbiti, parinder, ray, tempels, and others, have shown that africans are not so. According to akinlabi and connell 2007, interest and perhaps works on the state of the world linguistic heritage have increased dramatically. Ethnography of communication in yoruba language introduction documentary linguistics, as a new subdiscipline within linguistics, is a relatively new coinage that dates back to only about two decades. A concise introduction to the yoruba language yoruba kasahorow book 25. So when something comes along that they like or find useful, they are much more inclined to adapt it rather than turn it away. Googles free service instantly translates words, phrases, and web pages between english and over 100 other languages. An introduction to the hausa language a little bit of history tarihi a takaice the following history of the hausa language has been adapted from teach yourself hausa, charles h.
This paper discusses the localisation of the ms vista operating system for the standard yoruba language. Finally the sound system of english and yoruba language shall be treated. A famous international language instructor, professor abraham ajibade adeleke has been the coordinator and professor of african studies for about a decade. The number of yoruba speakers is estimated at between 45 and 55 million.
Introduction coerll yoruba ye mi page 17 cc 2012 the university of texas at austin adenrele adenrele name of a person bimbola bimbola name of a person duodu duodu fried yam tones yoruba language has three primary but contrastive tones that are marked as follows. It is the first part of a twopart series, and the first edition. During this time he has taught in schools, universities and several organizations such as us peace corps, divine world missionaries, british voluntary service overseas vso as well as lewis clark college from the usacurrently he is running swahili courses in east africa. Introductionthe following study module is called kekere yoruba, which means little yoruba inenglish. An analysis of traditional marriage rites of the ogbomosho people.
526 310 588 797 995 590 1370 1395 783 163 669 310 602 1088 537 1191 1335 1455 749 37 478 404 704