The chant a Yoruba bride performs in the days before she leaves her father's house, its three-part structure, the social situation that produces it, and what she actually says about the marriage ahead of her.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Ẹkún ìyàwó na di chant wey Yoruba bride dey perform for di days and nights bifor im leave im papa house go im husband house. Im dey waka from house to house dey tell im family people farewell, and for each house im dey chant: dey thank im parents, dey praise imself, dey recite im lineage, dey ask for blessing, and im dey cry as im dey do am. Na one of di genres wey touch emotion pass for di tradition and one of di ones wey dem no too present well for English, wey dem dey usually reduce to ordinary fine ceremony detail for wedding instead of to see am as wetin im really be, wey be young woman formal statement about transition wey no be say im fully choose am.
Di name mean di bride crying, from ẹkún, tears or crying, and ìyàwó, bride or wife. Dem dey also call am rárà ìyàwó, and Karin Barber use dat form, dey define am as di valedictory oríkì chants wey woman dey perform as im dey waka round dey tell im family people farewell and dey announce di change of state wey dey come, and im note say na di first type of oríkì chant wey woman dey learn .
Di origin of di word ìyàwó itself no clear. Yoruba scholars don propose ìyà (suffering) plus wó (to collapse), ìyà plus Ìwó (di town), and ìyá (mother) plus wò (to look), and none of dis ones convince person . Di corpus no accept any of dem.
Di performance no be single event for wedding. Na waka round wey dey take days.
As di date to leave dey near, usually ten to fifteen days bifor leaving, custom require say make di bride pay final symbolic visit to members of im nuclear and extended family: aunts and uncles from mama and papa side, important elders for im neighbourhood, im parents close friends, di parents of im friends, im own friends, and im papa and mama . For each house dem dey expect am, since message don reach dem bifor, and people dey gather with gifts.
For every doorstep, im age-mates wey never marry dey announce say im don reach with singing tone, and di response wey dem dey expect na chant in return . Near every place wey im visit and every person wey im talk to, im dey handle dem with poetry style . Im get chant ready for everyone wey im fit meet: im friends, people wey don toast am bifor, rivals, im stepmothers, people wey no like im mama, im grandparents and people wey dey run im mouth .
Di final stage na di going-away itself, wey dem dey do for night. Group of im friends wey never marry and few older wives from im family dey carry am go im husband house with dance and song, and for inside dose songs im mates dey challenge and provoke am about marriage responsibilities and wetin people dey expect, and im must respond back, to prove say im ready no be only physically but intellectually and socially .
Two features for dis matter dey important to look well. First, di bride dey perform di chant with real tears, and people wey dey look dey also cry join am . Di tears no be drama, and no be ordinary sorrow either; di performance still get happy mood along with am, wey one analysis explain say e dey show di fifty-fifty chance wey im future represent . Second, di whole thing dey competitive. If im meet another bride wey dey do similar waka round, competition go start between di two groups, wey be one reason why families dey hire professional wailers make dem train dia daughters .
Dis one no be wetin person dey make up on di spot. Di repertoire plenty and to master am dey take years.
Di bride must get song or chant for everyone wey im meet, so di quantity of material wey im need plenty well well and im must spend plenty time to learn am, wey dey take months or years for im life bifor marriage . Ladele and Faniyi describe di training say e long, e dey hard, and dem dey do am mainly through rote learning . Families sometimes dey hire professional wailers make dem train di bride and also di other girls for di family wey go soon marry comot .
Another thing dey for inside record wey no too comfortable: sometimes dem dey give di girls metaphysical help, juju and preparations wey dem prepare make e boost how dem dey remember di verses accurate and make e give dem boldness front of rivals, so dat di occasion go turn to display of memory and supernatural protection join together, just as egúngún chanter dey fortify imself . But on di other hand, another account talk say ẹkún ìyàwó no need formal training or apprenticeship, say person dey master am through continuous practice and repetition . Di two fit dey true for different places and different families, and dem leave di disagreement as e dey here instead of to settle am.
Di structural point behind di training follow formula. Di girl dey free to change di wording put im own from di stock of praise names wey im don learn without spoiling di structure of di chant , na why di versions wey dem gather dey different from each other. Im dey learn frame and repertoire, no be script.
Ẹkún ìyàwó special among Yoruba genres because im dey combine three components wey other genres dey carry only partly. Im dey bring ìwúre (prayer), ìbà or ìkíni (homage and greetings), and oríkì orílẹ̀ (lineage praise) together for single performance . If we compare am, ìwì egúngún dey start with prayer and im no too spend time on lineage praise, while ìjálá dey carry greetings and homage with small oríkì .
Im also get special set phrases wey belong to am, like Ire lónìí orí mi àfìre, "make good fortune follow my inner head today" And im subject matter special: verses wey dey talk with philosophy about di bride own condition, how im dey grateful to im parents, im fear about wetin dey come, di wahala wey im dey expect from co-wives, and prayer for pikin . Even though di chant touch many topics, di main subject through everything na di bride herself .
Ìkíni, salutation
Kò kò kò àgò onílé. Bẹ́ẹ̀ làgò mi ìí ṣe alágò tíí gbàtòrì o. Àgò mi ìí ṣe alágò tíí gbẹ́rẹ̀. Bẹ́wúrẹ́ bá ṣílé wò yóó gbẹ́rẹ̀, Bágùntàn bá ṣílé wò á gbàtòrì o.
Ìwúre, prayer
Èèmi ọmọ bíbí inú ìyá ò, Bàbá mo wá gbàre mi. Mi ò mọ̀ níí ṣílé wò ní tèmi o. Ire, àní n má fàbíkú ṣọwọ́, Ire, àní n má yà nísọ̀ àgàn o.
Oríkì orílẹ̀, lineage praise
Mo ní n ó kí bàbá mi o, Àkẹ́-ẹ̀kún-yá ni mí. Ìlókó nìyá mi o, Ìkó ni mí olókùn ọ̀là, Ìlókó ni mí, ọmọ Àrélù. Ẹrúmọṣà ni mí, mà jọba lólele.
Knock knock knock, may I come in, householder. My greeting is not the kind of greeting that gets whipped. My greeting is not the kind that gets beaten. When a goat looks into the wrong compound it gets a beating, when a sheep looks into the wrong compound it gets the whip.
I, the true-born child of my mother, Father, I have come to receive my blessing. May I never look into the wrong house. Blessing: that as a first-timer I will not trade in born-to-die children. Blessing: that I will never turn aside at the stall of the barren.
I want to salute my father. I am of the Àkẹ́-ẹ̀kún-yá household. Ìlókó is where my mother comes from. I am of the Ìkó lineage, owners of the string of wealth. I am of Ìlókó, offspring of Àrélù. I of the Ẹrúmọṣà stock will be tough when I am made king.
Yoruba text and English translation as Mábàwònkú and Udoinwang print am, na dem label the three part dem; the word-for-word meaning na the person wey compile this corpus write am .
The way e start na the normal way to enter person house, and the line dem about goat and sheep get specific meaning: animal wey waka enter wrong compound dey receive beat, and she dey talk say she no be dat kind thing, say her coming na legal thing and she get right to enter. The translation wey dem publish translate ṣílé wò inside the prayer section as "may I not marry from the wrong compound", wey carry marriage enter line wey literally mean say make person look inside house; the double meaning dey real and the compiler keep the direct meaning for the word-for-word explanation and point am out here. Àbíkú na the pikin wey dem born make e die and dem go born am again, the kind pikin death wey dey repeat itself wey dem talk about for yoruba-ibeji and for the file about naming; "trade in born-to-die children" na Yoruba idiom for person wey dey repeatedly born children wey no dey survive. The stall of the barren, ìsọ̀ àgàn, na market picture: she dey beg make she no go stand where people wey no get pikin dey stand. The last line shock person for bride chant and the translation wey dem publish keep the way e strange: she claim say she go tough when dem make am king. Lineage praise dey borrow words of rulership without meaning say the person literally claim to be king, and na this kind line show say ẹkún ìyàwó dey take directly from the oríkì orílẹ̀ stock wey dem describe for yoruba-oriki.
Three long passage dem, as dem print am in the fullest sequence wey dey available, show how wide e reach. The Yoruba text wey dey below na as dem print am for the original source without tone marks or subdots, and na so dem put am here instead of to just add tone marks quietly, because to put tone mark mean say person dey give one interpretation to text wey get double meaning. This one na real limitation and dem state am plainly instead of to hide am.
Original (as dem print am, without tone mark)
Babaa mi, Iyaa mi, e seun lae Eku kike ti e ke mi Eku gige ti e ge mi See so pe o ya kin maa rele oko? Eni o tasiko ki n kuo loode? Ki n lo file onile sele? Kin lo feni eleni se baba? E sure fun mi, ki n ma kelesu lohuun Ki n ma kagbako nile oko Orogun ti mo ba ba Ki won o fe mi bi omo won Ki n ma fabiku se wo Ki n ma bi mo abigbin bi ogede Omo ti mo ba bi, ko sehin bo wa sonike eyin
My father, my mother, I thank you always. Thank you for the care you gave me, thank you for the nurture you gave me. Do you say it is time I went to my husband's house? That the hour has come for me to leave the compound? To go and make another person's house my home? To take another person's man for a father? Bless me, that I meet no evil person there, that no calamity finds me in my husband's house. The senior wife I will meet, may she love me as her own child. May I not lose my children to àbíkú, may I not bear children and bury them like plantain suckers. May the children I bear come back to repay your goodness.
Yoruba text from Ladele and Faniyi (1978), as Alfred Adeniyi Fatuase adapt and translate am .
Di four rhetorical question for di middle na di main heart of di passage. She no talk point-blank say dem dey drive her go; she dey ask whether na wetin dem dey tell her be dat, four times, and di way she repeat am na wetin show di pain. Di phonological reading wey Fatuase do make sense to record: line 1 go reach 3 full with open vowel /e/, wey im see as open mouth of pesin wey dey shocked, and bilabial nasal /m/, wey im see as murmuring and crying, while di plosives /k/ and /g/ for line 2 and 3 dey show words wey hang for throat as she dey cry . Whether pesin agree with dis iconic reading or not, di sound pattern dey inside di text clear. Abigbin bi ogede, to bury pikin like plantain sucker, make sense because dem dey cut plantain sucker from di parent body come plant am separate: di picture na pikin wey dem separate from mama come put for ground, one after di oda. Di line about senior wife no be emotional talk, na reality: she dey enter polygamous house and she dey ask for di one thing wey go determine her everyday life.
Original (as printed, undiacriticised)
Mo nie jade wa e wa wo mi na! Emi Ibironke Aduni omo Ajenifuja, Emi lomo peleyeju, omo Ibadiaran, Kin ni mofi seja To ni n ma we ninu ibu o? Kin ni mo fi se konko To ni n ma we lodo? Kin ni mo fi se Baba mi Akanmu o? Won ni ki n jade nle, won ni ki n maa lo! Emi Eyinmenugun, Aponbepore, Mo mo lese bi olele awe Baba ko mi lare mo mare; Iya ko mi lowo mo mowo Mo mo ka aro, mo mo lee tunse Mo lamu laya ti mo le fomo mu; E weyin mi pele, e wo badii nu bebere, Mo le gbomo pon doja Mo kuro lomode agbekorun roko. E je n maa lo!
I say, come out and look at me! I, Ibironke Aduni, child of Ajenifuja, I am the child of Peleyeju, child of Ibadiaran. How did I offend the fish, that it forbids me to swim in the deep? How did I offend the frog, that it forbids me to bathe in the river? How did I offend my father Akanmu? They say I should leave the house, they say I should go! I, Even-Teeth-Befit-the-Mouth, Fair-as-Palm-Oil, clean-heeled, comely as breakfast olele. My father taught me wit and I have wit, my mother taught me trade and I know trade. I can cook àrọ̀ and I can set the house in order. I have breasts on my chest with which to nurse a child. Look kindly on my back, see how broad my hips are. I can carry a child on my back to the market. I am no longer a girl who goes to the farm with a bundle on her neck. Let me go!
Yoruba text from Ladele and Faniyi (1978), as adapted and translated by Fatuase .
Na dis passage dey make people uncomfortable and pesin no suppose soften am. She dey advertise herself: dey call her family lineage, dey list her skills, and dey describe her body in terms of how e fit carry and nurture pikin. Fatuase read am as appeal to di investment wey her parents make and at di same time advertisement to her husband family say dem get special catch, while any unmarried girl wey dey near to hear am suppose learn from am . Di lines about fish and frog na di typical style of di genre: complaint about how dem dey pursue her wey she shift give animals wey no fit pursue her at all, wey let her talk say dem dey pursue her commot without to directly accuse her papa, and den for di next line she still call im name anyway. Àpọ́nbépọreẹ, fair like palm oil, and ẹyìnmẹ́nugún, fine teeth wey fit di mouth, na normal beauty praise names from di oríkì stock. Di closing E je n maa lo, "make una let me go", na di same phrase wey pesin dey use take permission to leave, and after twenty lines of self-praise, e stand as both request and resignation.
Original (as printed, undiacriticised)
Ilo ya mi, o dile Ajibola Ajibola omo Baba Alaso Omo Iya Onileke nita oja Odede Akanmu lemi re, omo Olateju, omo Popoola Won ni ki won o pe mi wa ninu ile, Mo ni koree mi bami kalo N o sehun ekufu, ki ni n kiye sekule si? N o loju sile Asipa; N ee sore alagbede Ofiki Akanmu omo Po'ola, mo n bo loode re!
My going has come. It is to the house of Ajibola, Ajibola, son of the cloth seller, child of the bead seller at the market square. To the house of Akanmu I go, son of Olateju, son of Popoola. They say let them call me inside the house. I say let my age-mates come with me. I have done nothing shameful, why should I look back in fear? I have no eye on the house of Asipa, I am no friend of the blacksmith of Ofiki. Akanmu, son of Popoola, I am coming to your compound!
Yoruba text from Ladele and Faniyi (1978), as adapted and translated by Fatuase .
Shi call di husband family by dia work, cloth seller and bead seller, na so dem dey identify person. Den, without anybody asking am, shi deny two specific relationships: shi no get any interest for house of Asipa, and shi no be blacksmith of Ofiki friend. Dis na names of men, and di denial happen for public and before anything happen, shi talk am for front of everybody as shi dey go her marriage. Fatuase note say shi dey meet her former suitors on dis circuit . As shi refuse make dem call am inside, and insist say her age-mates must follow am, na her way of keeping di protection of her group for di threshold.
Ìyá tún ṣe púpọ̀ lórò mi o, Ìyáà mi wá ṣe púpọ̀ lórò mi o, Ìyáà mi tí mo ní tòótọ́, Ìyáà mi wáa ṣe púpọ̀ lórò mi. Bàbá mo wá gbàre mi. Ègbón mi, ègbón mi, Ṣó ń bẹ ńlé àbí ò sí ńlé? Bó bá ń bẹ ńlé, ẹ wí fún mi. Bí ò bá sí ńlé, n bẹ̀sẹ̀ ṣòrò.
My mother laboured much on my account, my mother truly laboured much on my account, my mother whom I truly have, my mother laboured much on my account. Father, I have come to receive my blessing. My brother, my brother, is he at home, or is he not at home? If he is at home, tell me. If he is not at home, let me go my way.
Yoruba text and English translation as Mábàwònkú and Udoinwang print am .
Di repetition wey happen four times about di mother na di emotional center of di whole genre, and e dey work by how e dey gather momentum instead of to say any new thing: di same line four times, with small small change, na how di chant take show wetin person no fit talk only once. Tí mo ní tòótọ́, "wey I truly get", get hidden contrast with di other wives for di household wey dem also dey call mother, and na di phrase wey load well well for inside di passage even though e quiet. Di section about di brother na di practical matter of goodbye wey dem deliver for di same register: he dey inside, if na so tell me, if e no dey I dey go. Di chant no dey shift between deep feeling and logistics, and dat refusal to separate dem na wetin dey define am.
Four functions, as di sources state dem.
E be rite of passage. Na transition from girlhood to womanhood, and mourning plus nostalgia for wetin shi dey leave behind . Di comparison wey scholars dey use na dirge: na song for departure, and e dey treat di departure like say na kind of death .
E dey prepare am for hard situation. Fatuase argument be say di chants dey create moral defense and stamina for transition wey dey bring distress, as e dey use language build willpower to go through am with courage , and say di practice dey help new wife adjust to marital shocks wey for otherwise lead to crisis or divorce . Kolawole note say Yoruba marriage structure mostly be polygynous, so di bride go likely see rival wife when shi reach there, and di daily verbal warfare wey dey follow na enough reason for solid training for wetin he call musical artillery and matrimonial polemics .
E be display of competence. Shi dey show memory, verbal skill, knowledge of her family history and panegyric, and di training wey certify say shi be person wey dem bring up well culturally and wey don ready .
E be public statement of private grievance. Na dis part dey usually get lost. Di chant dey allow am talk, in a way wey nobody fit challenge, say dem dey send am go, say shi no know wetin dey wait for am, say shi dey fear co-wife and fear to lose children, and say shi no do anything wey make am deserve dis banishment. Kolawole remark say her future na fifty-fifty chance , and Kolawole Mary Kolawole observation wey dem quote for di womanist reading say young men dey enter marriage dey feel triumphant while di girl dey expect di worst , dem two dey describe wetin di chant dey handle.
Di genre never die but e don reduce well well, as e still dey survive inside performance for some traditional wedding, for recorded and broadcast form, and inside di work of professional chanters wey dey keep am alive for commercial purpose. Fatuase own argument na make dem wake di custom back through electronic media, for revitalisation and dissemination .
Two warnings for reader wey just dey come meet am fresh. First, ẹkún ìyàwó na evidence about marriage system wey dem arrange, wey dey patrilocal and often polygynous, and di fear and worry for inside di chant na correct report about am, no be just poetic style. Second, di same texts still be real display of young woman authority over difficult verbal art for di one moment in her life wey shi get di floor to talk. Di two things na true at di same time, and recent scholarship wey dey read di genre through womanist theory na attempt to hold di two together instead of to choose one .
The secular chanting genre of praise, who the rárà singer is and how the performance is shaped by the audience paying for it, and the accuracy that makes rárà more than flattery.
What oríkì are, the different kinds, who performs them and why, and how they carry history that written records do not.
How Yoruba oral artists are trained, which genres are open to whom, how gender divides the field, how performers are paid, and the named artists the scholarship documents.
Yoruba song across work, ritual, nursing, children's play and social comment, with texts, and the problem of translating a song so that it can still be sung.
How Yoruba verbal art is classified into named genres by vocal manner rather than subject, who performs each and on what occasion, and why the European category "oral literature" fits the material imperfectly.
The hunters' chant associated with Ògún, its vocal manner, the ìjálá artist and how he is judged, the contest setting, and what the chant does as self-portrait and as praise of animals.