A Conceptual Map
The twenty core Yorùbá concepts in brief, each defined in two sentences with a pointer to where the corpus treats it fully.
Na these twenty concepts be wetin almost di rest of di work stand upon. Each entry dey give di term with full diacritics, di direct meaning if dem document di etymology, short definition, and direction go di section wey treat am well. Di definitions wey dey here dey short on purpose and all of dem simplify things pass as e suppose be; dem dey here make reader wey see di term for longer file fit get idea of wetin e mean already.
Di arrangement start from person body go outside: who person be first, then how di world take stand, then di spiritual powers, then knowledge systems, then forms of speech, then social institutions.
Personhood and destiny
Orí (di word meaning: head). Di head wey dey inside, person individual destiny and di personal spiritual power wey dey carry am, wey different from orí òde, di physical head. For Yorùbá thought, na before birth person dey choose orí and na di single most important factor for person life, na why common saying dey hold say person orí na their own personal divinity and say no òrìṣà fit help person against their orí . Full treatment: cosmology.
Àyànmọ́ (di word meaning: wetin dem choose join body, from yàn, to choose, and mọ́, to fasten). Wetin dem share give or wetin person choose before birth, wey dem dey usually translate as destiny or fate. E no be ordinary determinism, because di tradition hold say person fit make àyànmọ́ better, spoil am, or lose part of am through behavior, character, and proper performance of ẹbọ, wey be wetin make divination dey useful to do . Full treatment: cosmology.
Ìwà (character). Person character or moral quality, and na di main concept for Yorùbá ethics. Di Ifá corpus dey continuously hold say ìwà matter pass wealth, pass sacrifice, and even pass good destiny, and di compound word ìwà pẹ̀lẹ́, gentle or good character, na di name for di ethical ideal . Full treatment: cosmology.
Ọmọlúàbí (wey dem dey usually analyse as ọmọ tí Olú-ìwà bí, di pikin wey di chief of character born, even though people dey drag di etymology). Person wey get complete moral standing, di Yorùbá ideal of human being wey form well. Di good virtues wey literature attach to am include ọ̀rọ̀ sísọ, correct and truthful speech, ìtẹríba, respect, òtító, truth, ìwà rere, good character, ìwà ìrẹ̀lẹ̀, humility, akínkanjú, courage, iṣẹ́ àṣekára, hard work, and ọpọlọ pípé, soundness of mind . Full treatment: cosmology and social.
Àṣẹ (wey dem dey usually translate as power, authority, or di ability to make thing happen). Di force wey dey make things happen, wey dey inside speech, inside people, inside objects and inside di òrìṣà, and na from Ọlọ́dùmarè e take come finally. Na also di word wey dem dey talk for end of prayer, with meaning say make e be so, wey be di same concept wey apply to di talk itself: word wey get àṣẹ na word wey dey take effect . Full treatment: cosmology.
The structure of the world
Ọ̀run (di beyond, di sky-world). Di domain wey eye no dey see, home of Ọlọ́dùmarè, di òrìṣà and di ancestors, and di place wey person dey come from at birth and wey dem dey return to at death. E no be heaven as Christians understand am: e no be reward, e no dey opposite any place of punishment, and movement between am and di visible world dey continue, e no be final thing . Full treatment: cosmology.
Ayé (di world, di earth). Di visible world of di living, wey dem understand say e join body with ọ̀run instead of make e separate from am. Di pair of ọ̀run and ayé na di basic Yorùbá cosmological structure, wey dem often represent as closed calabash wey di two halves meet, and di movement between dem, of people at birth and death, of ẹbọ wey dem carry go up, of àṣẹ wey dey come down, na wetin most Yorùbá religious practice dey concern itself to manage . Full treatment: cosmology.
Ọlọ́dùmarè (etymology get argument; dem dey usually analyse am say e contain olú, chief or owner, with di rest part wey get different explanations). Di supreme being, source of existence and of àṣẹ. Ọlọ́dùmarè no get images, no get temples, no get dedicated priesthood and no dey receive sacrifice, and whether dem fit properly call di structure monotheism na wetin scholars dey actively argue, with Ìdòwú 1962 term "diffused monotheism" as di proposal wey get influence pass and also di one wey receive criticism pass . Dem still dey call am Ọlọ́run (owner of the sky). Full treatment: cosmology.
The divinities
Òrìṣà. Di powers wey people dey pass through deal with di world for practice, wey dey stand between Ọlọ́dùmarè and human beings. Dem understand some of dem as people wey live as human beings before wey their àṣẹ still dey, especially Ṣàngó, wey dem remember as ruler of Ọ̀yọ́, and others as powers wey never be human before; di tradition no join all of dem put inside one category, and di boundary between ancestor wey get big standing and òrìṣà no clear distinct at all . Full treatment: òrìṣà.
Èṣù (also Ẹlẹ́gbára, Ẹlẹ́gbáa). Di messenger and enforcer: di one wey dey carry ẹbọ from ayé go ọ̀run, wey dey stand for crossroads and for door mouth, wey dey test, dey scatter things and dey enforce reciprocity, and wey him participation dey structurally required make Ifá divination fit work. Èṣù no be devil and Yorùbá cosmology no get devil; na Bible translators for mid-nineteenth century make dat connection, and na di single most consequential mistranslation for Yorùbá religious history . Full treatment: òrìṣà, and the file on the demonization in this section.
Knowledge and divination
Ifá. Di Yorùbá divination system and di body of knowledge wey e dey point to, wey connect with di òrìṣà Ọ̀rúnmìlà, wey for inside tradition stand witness when dem dey choose destinies and therefore know wetin dem choose. UNESCO, wey register am for 2005 and 2008, describe am say e dey make use of "an extensive corpus of texts and mathematical formulas" and note say e "does not rely on a person having oracular powers but rather on a system of signs that are interpreted by a diviner" Full treatment: Ifá.
Odù. Di 256 sign dem of di Ifá system, wey each of dem be different binary figure and each one na di address for one body of verse. Sixteen principal Odù, wey four binary position each dey produce, dey join together in pairs to give 256, and dem arrange di Odù in a fixed order of seniority wey di diviner must know . Full treatment: Ifá.
Ẹsẹ (meaning for literal sense: leg, foot; here, na verse). Di individual verse dem for inside di Ifá corpus, wey each dey attached to an Odù, and each normally dey tell story of case wey don happen before: person consult Ifá, dem tell am make e do something, e do am or e no do am, and na wetin come out of am be dat. UNESCO give roughly eight hundred ẹsẹ per Odù and note say nobody know di total number and e dey always increase, wey make di corpus open instead make e close . Full treatment: Ifá.
Babaláwo (meaning for literal sense: father of di secret, from bàbá, father, ní, to get, and awo, secret or mystery). Di Ifá priest and diviner, wey dem train for years to cram and interpret di corpus. UNESCO translate di title as "the priest's father" and identify say as di priest dem dey old and di small money wey dey to train people wey go take over na di main threat to di survival of di tradition . Di corresponding title for women for inside Ifá na ìyánífá. Full treatment: Ifá.
Ẹbọ (offering, sacrifice). Wetin person dey give based on wetin divination prescribe: normally kolanut, palm oil, water, cooked food, cloth or money, and for bigger case, fowl or goat. Di logic na reciprocity and to maintain relationship instead of to beg power wey dey hostile, and na di same logic dey guide dealings with elder dem, lineages and host dem . Full treatment: cosmology and òrìṣà.
Forms of speech
Oríkì (wey dem commonly analyse as orí, head, plus kì, to praise or salute). Praise poetry wey dey attached to person, lineage, town, an òrìṣà or animal, wey dey call out im attributes and im history in a deep allusive form. Oríkì na primary historical source and primary literary genre at di same time, and na perform dem dey perform am instead of just reciting am, and most times na women dey do am for lineage oríkì case . Full treatment: language.
Ìtàn (narrative, account, history). Di narrative genre wey cover wetin English for divide into history, myth and story, without dat kind division dey inside di Yorùbá term. Ìtàn dey carry dynastic claims, origin of towns, òrìṣà accounts and di narrative content of di Ifá verses, and na people wey get position to defend dey perform am, wey be why dis corpus treat am as evidence of a particular kind instead of just fact or fiction . Full treatment: history and language.
Òwe (proverb). Di Yorùbá proverb corpus, wey dem dey use for argument, judgment, teaching and negotiation as compressed body of reasoning instead of just decorative wisdom. Di proverb about proverbs wey people know pass explain wetin e dey do: òwe lẹṣin ọ̀rọ̀, di proverb na horse of speech, wey mean say when speech loss, na proverb dem dey use find am . Full treatment: language.
Social and institutional
Egúngún (wey dem commonly analyse as something wey connect to egun, bone, and for normal sense, di masquerade). Di ancestral masquerade: di ancestor dem wey return in visible form, with costume and dance, for festival and burial dem, under di control of a masquerade society. Egúngún na religious institution, judicial one for some of im forms, and performance genre at di same time, and di way film dey show masquerade as demon no get anything to do with wetin e really be . Full treatment: òrìṣà and arts.
Ilé (house, home, land, ground, lineage). One of di words wey carry weight pass for di language, wey cover di physical compound, di family wey dey stay inside, di lineage wey get am, and by extension di land itself and di town. Yorùbá social organisation dey built on top ilé as di unit of belonging, property, obligation and identity, wey be why to displace person from ilé na religious problem as well as social one . Full treatment: social.
Ọba (king, ruler). Di sacred ruler of a Yorùbá town, wey dey hold office wey dem understand say come down from Odùduwà through a recognised line, wey dem install with rites wey make am pass ordinary administrator. Yorùbá kingship get constitutional limits, with councils wey fit refuse, remove and for Ọ̀yọ́ case force king to die, and colonial indirect rule remove most of dose checks while e increase di ọba's power, wey be di origin of most of di office modern shape . Full treatment: social and history.
How these fit together
Dis na rough sketch, wey dey offered as scaffolding and no be as doctrine. Person dey come from ọ̀run enter ayé dey bring an orí wey dem choose there, wey dey set dia àyànmọ́. Wetin dem make out of am depend on ìwà, character, wey na dem be responsible for am, and on àṣẹ, wey dem fit accumulate and use. When something go wrong, or decision matter, dem dey consult Ifá, wey im babaláwo dey cast to find di Odù wey address dia case and recite di ẹsẹ wey give di precedent, wey normally prescribe an ẹbọ. Èṣù dey carry am. Di òrìṣà of dia lineage and dia town, di egúngún of dia ancestors, and di ọba of dia ilé na di standing relationships wey inside all dis things dey happen.
Dat description leave out most of wetin matter and somebody dey contest every part of am in some way. Di purpose na to give di terms shape relative to each other, so dat di fuller treatments go get where to land.