Language: Section Index
Guide to the ten files in the language section, covering the Yorùbá language itself, its sound and tone system, writing, etymology, proverbs, praise poetry, names, translation bias, literature, and learning resources.
Dis language section cover Yorùbá as language: how e dey work, how dem take start to write am, wetin di words mean and where dem come from, di main oral literary forms wey dey, and how English translation of am take take shape during missionary time. Ten files, roughly 30,000 words.
Two files get weight pass di rest. translation-and-bias (08) na di methodological centre of dis section and even di whole corpus sef, because e document how dem take manufacture English vocabulary for Yorùbá religion and how to read older sources without carrying their assumptions. yoruba-etymology-and-word-formation (04) na di file wey separate documented etymology from folk etymology, and na di one to check before person trust any bold claim about wetin Yorùbá word "really" mean.
Di files
| # | File | One-line summary |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Di Yorùbá Language: Family, Dialects, and Speakers | Where Yorùbá dey for Niger-Congo family, di dialect continuum from Ọ̀yọ́ to Ondó, how dem take build Standard Yorùbá on top Ọ̀yọ́ base, and wetin di number of speakers and vitality data really show. |
| 02 | Sound and Tone: How Yorùbá Dey Give Meaning | Di seven vowels, eighteen consonants, and three tones, with complete minimal pairs wey dey show how pitch alone dey differentiate words, plus downstep, vowel harmony, and why Mid tone hard pass. |
| 03 | How Dem Take Write Yorùbá: Ajami, Crowther, and di Orthography Committees | From Arabic-script Ajami pass through Crowther and di 1875 Lagos conference reach di Bamgbóṣé committees of 1966 and 1974, why subdots and tone marks dey structural instead of just for decoration, and di Unicode problems wey dey scatter Yorùbá text online. |
| 04 | How Yorùbá Dey Build Meaning: Word Formation and Etymology | Prefixation, compounding, incorporation, and di sentence-as-word pattern, followed by confidence-rated etymologies for Ifá, òrìṣà, babaláwo, Olódùmarè, Ọlọ́run, àṣẹ, orí, ìwà, àyànmọ́, oríkì, odù, and Èṣù, with popular false etymologies wey dem mention and correct. |
| 05 | Òwe: Proverbs and di Architecture of Yorùbá Argument | Wetin proverbs dey do for society, for rhetoric, and when dem dey settle matter, plus forty-three proverbs in full three-layer translation with commentary on top di metaphor, including one tonal pun wey English no fit carry. |
| 06 | Oríkì: Praise Poetry, Genealogy, and di Naming of Essence | Di genres of praise poetry, why na women hold and perform dis knowledge, how oríkì take encode lineage and history, and wetin be their real limits as historical evidence. |
| 07 | Orúkọ: Yorùbá Names and How Dem Dey Give Dem | Names as compressed sentences, di birth-circumstance names wey person no dey choose, di àbíkú names, di ìsọmọlórúkọ ceremony, and well-analysed list of common names with their literal meanings and parts wey dey repeat. |
| 08 | Translation and Bias: How English Learn to Talk About Yorùbá Religion | Who really translate di Yorùbá Bible, wetin Crowther 1852 dictionary literally talk about Èṣù and òrìṣà, where di popular Èṣù-Satan story take miss di facts, di colonial origin of "fetish" and "juju", and method to read older sources. |
| 09 | Written Yorùbá: Print, Novel, Theatre, Film, and di Language Now | Ìwé Ìròhìn and di Yorùbá press, Fágúnwà and di first Yorùbá novel, di argument about Tutuola, Ogunde and Duro Ládipọ̀'s theatre, Yorùbá film, and di November 2025 reversal of Nigeria mother-tongue education policy. |
| 10 | How to Start to Read Yorùbá: Practical Guide for Adults | Step-by-step guide to read tone-marked Yorùbá for person wey already dey speak am, with greetings, core vocabulary, keyboards, free resources wey dem list with links, and realistic plan. |
Suggested order to read dem
If you wan start to read Yorùbá: 10, followed by 02, then 03. File 10 give di plan, 02 explain di tones wey e tell you make you learn, and 03 explain why di marks dey.
If you dey study di matter of demonization: 08 first, then 04, then 03. File 08 document wetin happen, 04 show how to test etymological claims, and 03 give di history of di writing system wey carry am.
If you wan understand di deep intellectual part of di tradition: 05, then 06, then 04. Na inside proverbs and praise poetry Yorùbá thought deep pass, and 04 give di vocabulary.
If na di linguistics you wan follow: 01, 02, 04.
Wetin dis section no cover
Cosmology, wetin orí, àṣẹ, ìwà, and àyànmọ́ mean as concepts instead of just as words, na under 04-cosmology e dey. Di Ifá divination system, di structure of di 256 odù, and di training of babaláwo dey under 05-ifa. Di òrìṣà individually dey under 06-orisa. Dis section treat all of dem only as linguistic objects: wetin di words be, where dem come from, and how dem take translate dem.
Dis files flag several matters as things wey dem never resolve instead of saying dem get final answer, and dem leave dem like dat on purpose: di origin of di word Ifá, di origin of di ethnonym Yorùbá, whether na missions promote Ọlọ́run, and whether Idowu own Olódùmarè na description of pre-Christian Yorùbá belief or partly na construct dem construct am. Where knowledge na only initiates get am, especially di interpretation of individual odù, dis section talk so instead of trying to fill di gap.