How Yorùbá Builds Meaning: Word Formation and Etymology
The machinery Yorùbá uses to make new words, and a worked, confidence-flagged examination of the etymologies of the key religious and philosophical terms.
Yorùbá dey build long words from short ones, and e dey do dis one well well reach say single word fit carry full sentence. Olúwaṣeun na name, and na still di sentence "the Lord has done this." To understand how dis system dey work na wetin dey separate person wey dey just guess wetin Yorùbá word mean from person wey fit analyse am.
Dis file get two parts. Di first part dey explain how word formation dey work for real life, wey be sometin wey people don establish well and wey no get katakata. Di second part dey check di etymology of di words wey reader of dis work go really like make dem explain: Ifá, òrìṣà, babaláwo, Olódùmarè, Ọlọ́run, àṣẹ, orí, ìwà, àyànmọ́, oríkì, odù, and Èṣù. Reason dey why dem mark dat second part say contention dey on top am. Yorùbá etymology hard well well, di written records no deep, and plenty things wey people dey talk with confidence na just folk etymology, wey some of dem na recently dem invent am. Each entry for under get clear confidence rating, and anywhere wey etymology popular but e no get backing, dis file talk am so.
Part one: the machinery
Yiwọla Awoyale's Global Yoruba Lexical Database, wey dem prepare for Linguistic Data Consortium, arrange di word-formation processes systematically, and di explanation for under dey follow am .
Prefixation
Prefixation na di main word-formation process for Yorùbá, and suffix no dey at all . Di language get set of prefixes wey dey work on verbs, especially à-, a-, è-, e-, ẹ̀-, ẹ-, ì-, i-, ò-, o-, ọ̀-, ọ-, and dia main work na to convert verbs to nouns .
Na dis be di single most useful thing to know about Yorùbá vocabulary. Plenty nouns for di language na just verb wey vowel dey attached for front:
- jẹ (to eat) → oúnjẹ (food), through incorporation, wey dem discuss for under
- kọ́ (to teach) → ìkọ́ (teaching)
- dá (to create) → ẹ̀dá (a created thing, a creature)
- gbàgbọ́ (to believe) → ìgbàgbọ́ (belief, and now specifically Christianity)
- sìn (to serve, to worship) → ìsìn (worship, religion)
Different prefixes on top di same verb dey give different nouns, and di choice of vowel no be anyhow: e dey interact with di vowel harmony wey dem describe for yoruba-phonology-and-tone.
Another different prefix, oní-, dey attach to nouns instead of verbs and e dey show possession, ownership, or characteristic property . Oní plus ilé (house) dey give onílé, wey fit mean house owner, landlord, or sometin wey house dey characterize . Dis prefix dey contract well well, and na inside dis contractions plenty etymology dey happen:
- oní + ilé → onílé
- oní + ọjà (market) → ọlọ́jà (market owner, trader)
- oní + owó (money) → olówó (wealthy person)
- oní + ọ̀run (heaven, the beyond) → Ọlọ́run
Dat last one dey important for theology and dem treat am for under.
Compounding
Two nouns dey combine, and for where dem join, one of two things dey happen . Either di vowels wey dey close to each other go assimilate, or one of dem go elide and di word go contract. Awoyale's examples show say di same pair of words fit give different results with different meanings:
- ọmọ (child) + àlè (concubine) → ọmọ-àlè (illegitimate child, no assimilation) or ọmaálè (incorrigible person, with assimilation)
- ẹran (animal) + oko (farm, bush) → ẹran-oko (bush animal, no elision) or ẹranko (any animal, wild animal, or stupid person, with elision)
- ewé (leaf) + ọbẹ̀ (soup) → ewébẹ̀ (vegetable)
- ìyá (mother) + ọkọ (husband) → ìyàwó patterns and ìyákọ (mother-in-law)
Verb compounding dey work differently, e no dey involve assimilation or elision, and e dey often produce meaning wey person no fit predict from di parts: tẹ̀lé (to follow) come from tẹ̀ (step on) and lé (be on top) but e no mean any of di two .
Incorporation
Verb dey absorb im object noun enter inside body, with vowel elision and contraction . Jẹ (eat) plus ohun (thing) dey give jẹun (to eat, to have a meal) . Dis process na why plenty everyday Yorùbá verbs dey look morphologically simple on di surface but dem historically complex.
Reduplication
Reduplication dey extremely productive, for both partial and full forms , and e dey do work wey range from forming nouns from verbs, to intensification, to creating ideophones, di vivid sound-symbolic words wey Yorùbá dey use plenty.
Sentence compounding, or the word that is a sentence
Di process wey dey surprise outsiders pass na wetin Awoyale call sentence compounding, where whole clause dey compressed enter single word, especially inside personal names . Prefixation, noun compounding, and sentence compounding together make Yorùbá name formation effectively open-ended, na why Babalọla's compilation of about 20,000 Yorùbá personal names be, as Awoyale talk am, di tip of the iceberg .
Worked examples:
- Olúwaṣeun: Olúwa (Lord) + ṣe (do) + un/èyí → "the Lord has done this," conventionally "thank God"
- Babátúndé: bàbá (father) + tún (again) + dé (arrive) → "father has come again"
- Ayọ̀délé: ayọ̀ (joy) + dé (arrive) + ilé (house) → "joy has come home"
- Olúwaṣeyi: Olúwa + ṣe + èyí → "the Lord did this"
Dis na di same grammar as normal sentence, compressed and lexicalised. Dem treat am in detail for yoruba-names.
Part two: etymologies, with confidence marked
Before di entries, four cautions dey.
Yorùbá etymology hard pass as e dey look. Long documentary record no dey. Di oldest substantial Yorùbá text na from di 1840s, so e no get Yorùbá equivalent of tracing English word through Middle English and Old English enter Proto-Germanic. Therefore, etymology na mostly internal reconstruction, comparison with Igala and Ìtṣẹ̀kírì and wider Volta-Niger relatives, plus analysis of di word im phonological shape.
Say pesin fit break word down wey make sense no mean say na di true origin be dat. Bikos Yorùbá dey join words together easily and e dey swallow sounds well-well, almost any word fit break into small parts wey get meaning. Say pesin fit break am down na weak proof. Di test na weda di sound changes dey follow regular pattern, weda di meaning dey flow naturally and no be force dem force am, and weda dem fit independently confirm di different parts.
Wetin people just dey assume about how words take start plenty for here, from everywhere. Devotional writers, Christian apologists, Afrocentric promoters, and internet posts all dey bring out strong claims about word origin. Some of dem na old and traditional, wey make dem dey culturally real even though dem fit no dey historically correct. Dis file dey separate wetin people traditionally talk say word mean from wetin history fit show say e be.
Tone na part of di word. Any explanation of word origin wey ignore tone no dey reliable at all, bikos na only part of di form e dey match. Plenty popular word origins fail exactly on dis point.
Ifá
Level of sure: nobody really know di true origin of di word.
Ifá na di name for both di divination system and, for plenty use, di deity wey follow am. E get clear cognate words across Volta-Niger languages: Igbo Afá, Ewe and Mina Afá, Fon Fá . Di way dis set of related words spread across languages wey connect but dey distinct show say di term don tey and e fit be say dem inherit am or e spread early across di region, instead of say na inside Yorùbá dem coin am.
Apart from dat, nobody don establish di main root origin of di word . No accepted internal Yorùbá breakdown dey for Ifá, and di suggestions wey analyse am into Yorùbá morphemes no get support from comparative linguistic evidence.
For di relationship between Ifá and Ọ̀rúnmìlà, scholars get different views. Wande Abimbọlá dey treat Ifá and Ọ̀rúnmìlà like say na di same thing, two names for di same divinity . William Bascom dey separate dem, e dey use Ifá for di divination system and di deity wey follow am, while e identify di main deity as Ọ̀rúnmìlà . Dis na real difference for how scholars dey use am, no be misunderstanding, and readers go see di two.
Concerning di origin of di system instead of di word, some scholars don propose say connection fit dey with Nupe geomancy and, beyond dat, with di wider family of Islamic geomantic divination wey people know as ʿilm al-raml, wey spread across Africa and share di sixteen-figure binary structure. Other scholars hold say Ifá develop inside Yorùbá practice. Di claim say e come from Egypt wey dem dey sometimes attach to dis discussion na just guess and comparative linguistic evidence no support am. Dis na question for 05-ifa instead of linguistic matter, and dem suppose mark am as contested for dat side.
Popular claim wey make we drop: say Ifá come from phrase wey mean "to scrape" or somtin like dat. Crowther 1852 dictionary list separate word ifá wey mean "wetin dem scrape comot, shaving, di act of wiping," beside another different meaning "the god of palm-nuts" Dis ones na homophones or near-homophones for di way e write dem, and e dictionary no get tone marks wey make dem look closer pass how dem really be. Say di divination system come from di scraping word no get support.
Òrìṣà
Level of sure: contested, with two main proposals.
Òrìṣà na di general term for di Yorùbá divinities. Two word origins dey circulate widely for scholarly and devotional books:
- From orí (head) plus ṣà (to select, to choose), wey dey give somtin like "selected head" or "chosen head."
- From orí plus ṣà in di sense of source, or from phrase wey include ìṣẹ̀ṣe (original practice, tradition).
None of di two don get proof from regular sound correspondence, and e better make dem treat di two as traditional interpretations instead of history wey dem don prove. Di orí part make sense for phonology, since orí get independent record and e dey central to Yorùbá thought (see below), but say somtin fit happen no be proof.
Wetin pesin fit talk with confidence na wetin Crowther contemporaries do to di word inside English. E 1852 dictionary explain orisa as "deity, object of worship; gods, idols" Di word "idols" dey do theological work for there, no be dictionary work, and dem check dis matter inside translation-and-bias.
Babaláwo
Level of sure: high on di components, medium on di exact underlying form.
Babaláwo na di Ifá priest and diviner. Di components no get serious argument: bàbá (father) and awo (mystery, secret, di hidden knowledge of initiated group), with linking element between dem.
Di normal analysis na bàbá + oní + awo, using di possessive prefix oní- wey dem describe for up, wey dey contract to babaláwo through di regular pattern wey still give ọlọ́jà from oní + ọjà. Di meaning na "father who possesses the mystery," wey people conventionally translate as "father of secrets" or "father of mysteries"
Awo get independent record for Crowther dictionary as "device, secret bargain, superstitious mystery," and dis last word show di hand of di translator again . Di feminine counterpart ìyáláwo or ìyánífá form identically on ìyá (mother).
Di competing analysis, bàbá + ní + awo ("father has mystery"), dey give almost di same surface form and almost di same meaning, and e hard to distinguish di two based on evidence. Di distinction no affect di sense.
Olódùmarè
Level of sure: contested. Di explanation wey people quote pass come from theologian wey get theological agenda.
Olódùmarè na one name of di supreme being. Di explanation of origin wey people know pass na di one from E. Bọlaji Idowu, inside Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief (1962). Idowu analyse di name as ol- (from oní, owner or lord of) plus odù plus mà rè, wey e take mà rè as imperative wey mean "do not go" or "that does not go," and e read di whole thing as assertion of stability, constancy, and self-existence .
The reason why person suppose treat Idowu etymology with care get one specific cause. Idowu na Christian theologian wey write to show say Yorùbá religion get genuine monotheism wey Christians fit recognize, and the way im take explain words dey always bring out one supreme being wey get the same attributes as the God of Christian theology: self-existence, immutability, omnipotence. Dat na argument wey make sense, and Idowu book na solid foundation wey make sense to read, but the etymology dey do argument work and person no fit treat am as neutral linguistic finding. Dis concern about Idowu project na somtin wey dem don raise repeatedly for academic literature wey follow, and the debate on whether Olódùmarè as Idowu present am na correct description of pre-Christian Yorùbá belief or somtin wey dem partly turn to Christian concept, still dey open .
Other analysis dey read odù as the source or the container of creation, wey dey give somtin like "owner of the source of creation wey no dey ever empty" Dis ones get the same problem: inside the language e make sense, but outside dem never prove am with clear evidence.
One thing wey person fit state as fact wey dem document instead of reconstruction: Crowther 1852 dictionary don already translate Olodumare, Olodumaye as "God, the Almighty, Self-existing Being" So the identification of Olódùmarè with one supreme, self-existent God don dey inside missionary dictionary records by 1852, ten years before dem born Idowu and 110 years before im book come out. Dis one no settle whether the identification na pre-Christian, but e show say no be Idowu invent am.
Ọlọ́run
Confidence: high for morphology, but dem dey contest the history of usage.
Ọlọ́run na clearly oní + ọ̀run, "owner of / lord of ọ̀run," through the exact contraction pattern wey dey give olówó and ọlọ́jà. The morphology no get dispute.
Ọ̀run na the domain wey dem dey usually translate as heaven, the other world, the invisible realm, wey dey stand as pair with ayé, the visible world. Dem don also analyze am as the nominalising prefix ọ̀- plus the verb run, even though dis one na reconstruction instead of derivation wey dem document .
The part wey people dey drag na sociolinguistic, no be morphological. Idowu argue say Olódùmarè na the older native name for the supreme being, and say Ọlọ́run, even though na im be the normal everyday word now, spread well because of Christian and Muslim influence on Yorùbá life . If wetin Idowu talk dey correct, then the word wey most Yorùbá Christians and Muslims dey use for God everyday gain prominence partly because of the missions. Dis na claim wey make sense and wey people dey repeat well, but e hard to verify decisively, since the written records start from the missionaries themselves. Make person treat am as serious hypothesis instead of confirmed fact.
Àṣẹ
Confidence: medium. The main meaning get solid proof; the normal English translation loose pass the Yorùbá.
Àṣẹ na the power wey dey make things happen, the effective force wey dey make talk or action take effect. E connect to the verb ṣẹ, to come to pass, to fulfill, to happen as dem talk am, and the à- prefix na the normal verb-to-noun nominaliser wey dem describe for top. Based on dat analysis, àṣẹ na "wetin dey come to pass" or "the power of coming-to-pass," wey morphologically regular and semantically natural. Dis one solid reach the level wey Yorùbá etymology fit reach, and e still depend on internal analysis pass documentary history.
Two warnings. First, àṣẹ wey dem dey talk for the end of prayer dey work similar to "amen," and the two truly match, but the concept big pass just formula to agree: àṣẹ na power wey be like substance wey person fit hold, pass give person, or concentrate inside objects, words, and people. Second, the English translation "life force" or "vital energy," wey common for diaspora and popular writing, dey carry vitalist ideas from other traditions come inside. "Authority, command, the power to make happen" dey closer.
Orí
Confidence: high for the word, and the double meaning na the main point.
Orí mean head, the physical head, and e still mean the inner head, the personal destiny or spiritual self wey person choose before dem born am and wey dey determine person path for life. No be say na two different words wey just sound alike. Yorùbá thought dey treat dem as the same thing wey dem look from outside and inside, na why dem dey honour, address, and propitiate orí.
Orí dey appear as part of many words and na im be the main element for the leading etymology of òrìṣà wey dey for top. The concept belong to 04-cosmology; the linguistic point here na say the identity of physical head and destiny dey carry inside one single word, and any English translation wey choose only one meaning dey destroy the other one.
Ìwà
Confidence: high for morphology, and the semantics carry heavy philosophical weight.
Ìwà na character, and e still mean existence or being. Na the ì- nominalising prefix on top the verb wà, to be, to exist. So ìwà literally mean "being" or "wetin dey exist," and na the normal word for person moral character.
Say single word cover both existence and character no be coincidence of sound, and Yorùbá ethical thought dey use am: wetin person be and how person dey behave na the same question. The phrase ìwà l'ẹwà, "character is beauty," depend on am. Barry Hallen work with Yorùbá onísègùn on the vocabulary of moral evaluation na the main philosophical work for English .
Àyànmọ́
Confidence: medium-high for morphology.
Àyànmọ́ na destiny, for the specific sense of wetin dem choose or select and attach. The analysis na the à- nominaliser plus yàn (to choose, to select) plus mọ́ (to fasten to, to stick to, to attach). "Wetin dem choose and attach" na natural meaning and all the parts get independent proof.
Di morphology dey carry real theological position: destiny for Yorùbá thought na wetin person dey choose by demselves before dem born dem, and dat one go come stand, no be say na one outside power force am put. Di word carry di doctrine. Related terms include kádàrá and ìpín, and make we note say kádàrá na loanword from Arabic, from qadar, wey enter through Islam, and e good make we point am out because sometimes people dey present am as indigenous word.
Oríkì
Confidence: e high well-well for di components.
Oríkì na praise poetry, wey dem explain well inside yoruba-oriki. Di components na orí (head) and kì, wey be verb meaning to greet, to salute, to praise, to recite. Di compound word mean "head-saluting" or "wetin dey salute di head," wey fit di genre well: oríkì dey address subject by calling di main-main attributes wey e get.
Karin Barber, wey di study wey e do on oríkì for Òkukù be di standard work, describe di genre as attributions or appellations, collection of epithets wey dem dey direct give one subject .
Odù
Confidence: dem no know di etymology; di way dem dey use am get proper document.
Odù na di name for di 256 signs for di Ifá corpus, di sixteen main figures and di 240 combinations wey come out from dem. E still dey appear as normal word wey mean big pot or vessel, and inside di name Odù, wey be di primordial female principle for some accounts.
Dem never fit confirm whether na di same word historically. Di vessel meaning and di divination meaning fit be one word wey dem extend metaphorically, as odù wey be container of knowledge, wey be how people dey usually present di connection, or dem fit be separate things entirely. Di explanation wey Abimbọlá's give about di Ifá literary corpus document di structure and use of di odù well-well without settling where di word come from . Some of di interpretive knowledge wey join with individual odù na only initiates hold am and no be public knowledge, and dis corpus no dey fill dat gap.
Èṣù
Confidence: dem no know di etymology; wetin happen to di word for English get full document.
Where Èṣù take originate as word, dem never establish am. People don propose how to break down di word, but none of dem don dey proven.
Wetin dey documented, wey person fit verify from di primary source, na say Crowther 1852 Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language get dis entry:
Esu, s. devil; Satan.
Na dis dictionary definition fix di way dem take connect Èṣù to di Christian devil inside written language. E just sidon for di dictionary like ordinary brief meaning without any note say Èṣù na Yorùbá divinity wey get distinct role, and di other entries wey dey near am for di same dictionary separate other esu homophones, wild grass and white ant, with more careful explanation pass wetin di divinity receive .
Di full breakdown of wetin dis thing cause, who don argue against am, and how to reason am, dey inside translation-and-bias. E belong to dat place pass here because na matter of translation, no be matter of Yorùbá etymology.
False and doubtful etymologies wey good to know by name
Dem dey circulate everywhere. None of dem get backing.
"Yorùbá" wey come from Arabic or Hausa abuse word. Where di ethnonym Yorùbá really come from no clear at all. E show for Hausa and Arabic sources to refer to di Ọ̀yọ́ before e come turn general name wey people dey call demselves, and di way e spread reach all Yorùbá-speaking peoples na nineteenth-century development wey join with missionary and Sierra Leone usage. Specific claims say e come from Arabic word wey mean "cunning" or somtin like dat na folk etymology and e no get backing. Make we take am say where di ethnonym come from never settle.
Yorùbá words wey dem say come from Hebrew or ancient Egyptian. As dem explain for the-yoruba-language, Yorùbá na Niger-Congo and dis languages na Afro-Asiatic. Say individual words just resemble each other no prove anything; comparative method dey require systematic correspondences, wey dem never show. Dis one join with di claim say Olódùmarè get Hebrew or Egyptian part inside am.
"Amen" wey dem say come from Yorùbá, or àṣẹ wey come from "amen." None of di two. Amen na Hebrew, from root word wey mean firmness or reliability, and e reach Yorùbá through Christianity and Islam. Àṣẹ get Yorùbá internal derivation from ṣẹ. Di way dem two dey function similarly inside prayer na true; but di etymological connection no dey.
Etymologies wey dey ignore tone. Any proposal wey only match consonants and vowels but throway tone dey match incomplete form. Since ọkọ alone na three different words based on tone, etymology wey blind to tone fit join almost anything with almost anything.
"Traditional" etymologies wey dem newly invent. Some etymologies wey dem dey present as ancestral knowledge na clearly recent things, wey start from twentieth-century devotional or nationalist writing. Dem fit make sense to di communities wey dey use dem, and dis corpus no dey bring dem down, but make dem no present dem as historical linguistics. Anywhere wey source no fit trace pass late twentieth century, dis corpus dey talk am clear.