Preface

This book is for the use of beginners who want to learn Yoruba and those

who want to speak it as a second language (L2). The set of people that fall

into this category are:

■ Those who marry to Yoruba spouses.

■ Students learning Yoruba as a second language (L2).

■ Yoruba children born abroad.

■ Those who have interest in speaking the language.

It is written in a Teach-Yourself format. It is highly interractive. A reader

studies a lesson and tests himself through series of “Brainwork” provided

in the book.

Because it is a book meant for beginners, some basic grammatical

rules and orthography are adjusted to make learning easier for users.

This book is to be viewed as an introductory to learning Yoruba.

Also, the reader should note that words used in a chapter are built on

preceeding chapters for sequencial learning. Hence, the lessons on

preceeding chapters help readers to understand those on subsequent

ones.

The peculiar problem a learner of a new language faces is how to

correctly pronounce new words. Being able to correctly pronounce

new words encourages a learner to keep on. Therefore, it is

important to go through the use of tone marks in the Chapter 1 of

this book. With the knowledge of the tone marks, an audio

assistance will only become a catalyst and not essentially a

necessity.

H P – O K N N

–

There are twenty – five (25) alphabets in Yoruba language. They are:

B D Ẹ F G GB H I J K L M N O Ọ P S Ṣ U

W Y.

NOTE – k :

Letters like, c, q, v, x and z are not among Yoruba alphabets.

How to Pronounce the Alphabets:

The Yoruba Alphabets Similar Pronunciation In English

A ah

B bee

D dee

E hay

Ẹ air

F fee

G gee (as in go)

GB (has no English similarity)

H hee

I ee

J jee

K key

L lee

M mee

N nee

O oh

Ọ or

P pee

R ree

S see

Ṣ she

T tea

U ooh

W wee

Y yee

Yoruba Vowels - wọn awẹli oruba

Yoruba alphabets contains only seven (7) vowels, namely:

a e ẹ i o ọ u

a (ah) e (hay) ẹ (air) i (ee) o (oh) ọ (or) u (ooh)

In the same vein there are eighteen (18) consonants:

Yoruba Consonants - wọn ọ n n n oruba

b d f g gb h j k l m n p r s ṣ t w y

Let’s make some two letter words, using consonant + vowel.

orming wo- e er ord – kọ wọn rọ n - ẹ j .

b = ba (bah) be(bay) bẹ (bair) bi (bee) bo (boh) bọ(bor) bu(boo)

d = da (dah) de(day) dẹ (dair) di (dee) do (doh) dọ(dor) du(boo)

f = fa (fah) fe(fay) fẹ (fair) fi (fee) fo (foh) fọ(for) fu(foo)

g = ga (gah) ge(gay) gẹ (gair) gi (gee) go (go) gọ(gor) gu(goo)

h = ha (hah) he(hay) hẹ (hair) hi (hee) ho (hoh) họ(hor) hu(hoo)

wa (wah) we(way) wẹ (wair) wi (wee) wo (woh) wọ(wor) wu(woo)

ETC

By yourself, form more of these two-letter words with the

remaining consonants; gb, j, k, l, m, etc

TONAL MARKS:

The tone marks adopted to help in pronouncing Yoruba words are the

first three musical notes;

„do‟ „re‟ „mi‟

“do” is the low tone. he sign representing this is

“re” is the medium tone. It has no sign representation

“mi” is the high tone. he sign representing this is

*These tone marks are strictly placed on Yoruba vowels, except in

few in ance he are u ed on le er ‘n’.

For instance, try to call these common words below. Let the tones in

the brackets above guide you. Pronounce the corresponding tone mark

before pronouncing the word.

BRAINWORK

WORD TONE

(i). Come – wá ‘mi‟ wá

(ii). Child – ọmọ re re ọmọ

(iii). A name – Adé re mi Adé

iv . ooked garri – ẹ b do do ẹ b

–

These are five nasal vowels, namely:

an, ẹn, in, ọn, un

The Nasals How to Pronounce

i. -an e.g. san – to pay is pronounced „sun‟

ii. -ẹn e.g. yẹn – that is pronounced (Japanese)„Yen‟

iii. -in e.g. dín – to fry is pronounced as „dean‟

iv. -ọn e.g. pọ n – to be ripe is pronounced the same as ‘an’

in (i) above.

v. -un e.g. fún – to give is pronounced as „foon‟ and not

as ‘fun‟

BRAINWORK

Now try and pronounce the words below.

1. rán – to sew; yán – to yawn;

ọs n – orange

2. yẹn – that hẹn - yes

3. pín – to divide; sín – to sneeze rìn – to walk

4. fọn – to blow [a trumpet] pọ n – to be ripe

fọn – mosquito

5. sùn – to sleep; sún – to shift; sun – to burn

6. Ọs n yẹn - That orange.

SINGULAR AND PLUR –

The article „àwọn‟ is used to express plurality of Yoruba nouns.

For instance:

ọ pọ

ọs n – orange wọn ọs n - oranges

ẹ fọn – mosquito wọn ẹ fọn - mosquitoes

ọmọ - child wọn ọmọ - children

ilé – house wọn ilé - houses

ènìyàn – person wọn nìy n – persons/people

H P – O K J

–

Numeral Cardinals Ordinals Frequency

1 ọ kan/ení 1st – èkíní once – ẹ ẹ kan

2 méjì 2nd – èkejì twice – ẹ ẹ mej

3 mẹ ta 3rd

– kẹta thrice – ẹ ẹ mẹta

4 mẹ rin 4th – kẹrin x – ẹ ẹ mẹrin

5 m r n n 5th – kar n n x – ẹ ẹ mar n n

6 mẹ f 6th – kẹf x – ẹ ẹ mẹf

7 méje 7th – èkeje x – ẹ ẹ meje

8

mẹ jọ

8th – kẹjọ x – ẹ ẹ mẹẹjọ

9 mẹ s n n 9th – kẹs n n x – ẹ ẹ mẹs n n

10 mẹ w 10th – kẹw x – ẹ ẹ mẹw

BRAINWORK

E.g. First orange – ọs n k n [not k n ọs n]

Three children – wọn ọmọ mẹ ta [not wọn mẹ ta ọmọ]

Now try this:

1 The fifth orange - -------------

2 The ninth child - -------------

3 ------------------- - ọmọ ẹ kẹta

4 ------------------- - ọs n ẹ kẹrin

Counting Of Items

NOTE: From here, we will start to use the contracted form of „ọkan‟ = 1 as „kan‟

For Example – Fún Àp r :

i One orange ọs n ọ kan. ọs n kan

ii wo children wọn ọmọ méjì

iii en houses wọn ilé mẹ w

iv Four people – wọn nìy n mẹ rin

v Sixth person – nìy n ẹ kẹf .

BRAINWORK:

1. One child - --------------------------

2. Ten people - ---------------------------

3. --------------------------- - wọn ilé mẹ jọ.

4. --------------------------- wọn nìy n m r n n

5. Seven children - --------------------------

6. ------------------------- - wọn ọs n mẹ jọ.

More On Numbers i.e. 11 to 20

Numbers from 11 to 14 shall be done first. The secret is to

just add „lá‟ at the end of ‘ọ kan’ ‘méjì’ e.t.c

That is:

– ọ kan – mọ k nl 11th – ẹ kọk nl

2 _ méjì 12 – méjìlá 12th – èkejìlá

– mẹ ta – mẹ t l 13th – ẹ kẹt l

– mẹ rin – mẹ rìnl 14th – ẹ kẹrìnl

Numbers 15 to 20 requires a little subtraction to understand.

For instance:

5 less from 20 = 15

while

4 less from 20 = 16 ETC

o e – k :

“less from” means“dín” in or b , while “20” is “ogún”.

herefore, let’s start counting in the same way:

15 = màrúndínlógún i e (már n ún) less from (din) 20 (ogun)

mẹ rìnd nl g n i.e. (4 less from 20)

mẹ t d nl g n i.e. (3 less from 20)

18 = méjìdínlógún i.e. (2 less from 20)

mọ k nd nl g n i.e. (1 less from 20)

20 = ogún

We shall stop counting for now.

BRAINWORK

1. ount to in or b , at a stretch, orally,

2. rite down – ọ kan to – og n, in or b , by heart.

3. Sixteen children – ọmọ ______

4. _______________ – wọn ọs n méjìl

5. Eighteen houses – _______________________

6. _____________ – wọn ọmọ marundinlogun

7. Seventeen people – _______________

8. Seventeenth person – _____________

9. 3 oranges – _____________

10. _____________ – ẹ fọn mẹ f

H P – O KẸ

-

Vocabularies

day – ọjọ

morning – rọ

afternoon – ọ s n

evening – alẹ

sunset – ìrọ lẹ

return – bọ

work job – iṣẹ

tomorrow – ọ la

today – òní

yesterday – àná

be watchful sorry take heart – pẹ lẹ

week – ọ ṣẹ

month – oṣ

year – ọd n

time – sìk , k k

period/season – ìgbà

To Greet:

„Good‟ is taken to be „Ẹ kú‟

Therefore:

Good + morning Ẹ k + rọ

Similarly,

hanks [for] + yesterday Ẹ ṣé + n

And so;

Good morning – Ẹ k rọ

Good afternoon – Ẹ k ọ s n

Good return – Ẹ k bọ [i.e. Welcome]

Good afternoon – Ẹ k ọ s n

o id omeone ‘Till Morning’, ‘Afternoon’ etc

‘ ill’ is translated as ‘Ó d ..…’

So,

ill + tomorrow – Ó d + ọ la

ill tomorrow – Ó d ọ la

ill + afternoon Ó d + ọ s n

ill afternoon Ó d ọ s n

Hence,

ill tomorrow – Ó d ọ la

Till sunset – Ó d ìrọ lẹ

ill morning – Ó d rọ [i.e. Good night]

ill you return – Ó d bọ . [i.e. Good bye]

Other Greetings are:

Sorry It is a pity - Pẹ lẹ

Thank you - O ṣé

Thanks [for] yesterday - O ṣé n

It’s quite a long time – Ẹ k ọjọ mẹ ta [Literally, this means, „it‟s

been some three days‟]

BRAINWORK

1 Good evening - -------------------------------

2 Good return (Welcome) - ---------------------------

1. Good job (Well-done) -------------------------------

2. --------------------------------- - d ọ s n.

3. ---------------------------------- - Ẹ k ọjọ mẹ ta

4. ---------------------------------- - d alẹ

5. Thanks - -----------------

6. ------------------------------- - Ọd n mẹ f

7. One week - -------------------------------

8. The fourth month - ------------------------------

More on Greetings:

How is it? - Báwo ni / Ṣé dáradára ni?

How is work? = Báwo ni iṣẹ ?

Some Greetings and How to Respond to them:

NOTE – k :

For greetings referring to times of the day, you will respond to

„Ẹ kú‟ and „Ó dà‟ forms of greetings by saying back the greetings that

is said to you.

For instance;

reeting – ni e pon e – h n

Ẹ k rọ – Good morning Ẹ k rọ – Good morning

Ó d ọ la – Till tomorrow Ó d ọ la – Till tomorrow

Also,

„Ẹ kú ilé‟ is the response to „Ẹ kú àbọ ‟

But for those of ‘How is……?‟ – ‘Báwo ni’ ‘ dúp ‟ is the ideal

response.

For instance;

ni h n

How is it? - Bawo ni/Ṣe dáradára ni d pẹ

How is work? = Báwo ni iṣẹ d pẹ

ETC

–

Sunday – Ọjọ - ìk sinmi

Monday – Ọjọ - jé

uesday – Ọjọ - ṣẹ gun

ednesday – Ọjọ -

hursday – Ọjọ -Bọ

Friday – Ọjọ -Ẹtì

Saturday – Ọjọ - b mẹ ta

–

January – Sẹẹrẹ

February – r lé

March – Ẹrẹ n

April – Igbe

May – bìb

June – k d

July – gẹmọ

ugust – g n

September – Owewe

October – Ọ w r

November – Bél

December – Ọ pẹ

CHAPTER - O KẸ IN

–

hair – irun

forehead – iw j -or

nose – im neck – ọr n

shoulder – jìk

chest – y

stomach – ik n

wrist – ọr n-ọwọ

finger – ìka-ọwọ

thigh – itan

knee – or nk n

shin – oj gun

toe – ìka-ẹsẹ

head -or

eye – oj

ear – et

mouth – ẹnu

tongue – ahọ n

lip - t

teeth – ey n

chin – gbọ n

arm - ap

hand - ọwọ

back - ẹ yìn

leg - ẹsẹ

buttock – ìb d ìd

BRAINWORK

1. One head – ------------------------------------------------

2. --------------------------- – Ojú méjì

3. he third finger – ìka-ọwọ – -----------

4. Teeth – ---------------

5. Stomach – ----------------------------

6. ----------------------------- – ẹ hìn

7. Forehead – ----------------------------

8. ---------------------- – ẹnu

9. The second ear – -----------------

10. One leg – -----------------

11. ----------------- – ìka-ẹsẹ mẹ w

pre ing eeling in ar of he od – mọ l ra

1. My head aches I have headache – Or n fọ mi.

2. My ear aches – t n ro mi

3. She had toothache – y n n ro .

4. hey have back pain – Ẹ yìn n d n wọ n

5. hey are happy – In wọn d n

He had stomach-ache – In n ro