LEARN TO SPEAK YORUBA WITHIN A VERY SHORT TIME

Preface

This 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

§ Non-Yoruba students

§ Yoruba children born abroad

§ Those who have interest in speaking the language.

It is presented in a Teach-Yourself format. It is highly interractive. A reader studies a lesson and tests himself through series of “Brainwork” provided.

Because it is 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, words used in different chapters are built on preceeding chapters for the sake sequencial learning method. Hence, the lessons on preceeding chapters help readers to understand the subsequent ones.

While entering into the lessons, it is important to pay serious attention to the use of tone marks in the chapter 1 of this book. 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.

TONE 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. The sign representing this is \

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

“mi” is the high tone. The sign representing this is /

* Tone marks are strictly placed on Yoruba vowels.

For instance, try to call these common words below. Let the tones in the brackets above guide you, pronouncing the corresponding tone mark before pronouncing the word.

Can you now try and pronounce these words below, putting to mind the tone marks just learnt:

WORD TONE

(i). Come – wá mi

(ii). Child – ọmọ re re

(iii). A name – Adé re mi

(iv). Cooked garri – èbà do do

CHAPTER 1

ALPHABETS, NASALS AND COUNTING

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

They are:

A B D E Ẹ F G GB H I J K L M N O Ọ P R S S T U W Y.

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

ALPHABETS – AWỌN ALUFABẸTI YORUBA

Pronouncing the Alphabets

The Yoruba Alphabets Similar Pronunciation In English

A are

B be

D the

E hay

Ẹ air

F fee

G gee as in go

GB (no English similarity)

H he

I ee

J jee

K key

L lee

M me

N nee

O oh

Ọ or

P kpee

R re

S see

S she

T tea

U uh

W wee

Y yee

Yoruba Vowels - Awọn Fawẹli Yoruba

There are only seven (7) vowels. They are listed below:

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

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

b d f g gb h j k l m n p r s s t w y

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

Forming Two Letter- Words.

b = ba be bẹ bi bo bọ bu

d = da de dẹ di do dọ du

f = fa fe fẹ fi fo fọ fu

g = ga ge gẹ gi go gọ gu

By yourself, form more of these two-letter words with the remaining consonants; h, j, k, l, m, etc

NASALS

These are five 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. pón- to be ripe is pronounced the same as ‘an’ in (i)

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; ọsàn – orange

2 yẹn – that hẹn - yes

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

4 fọn – to blow [a trumpet]; pọn – to be ripe ẹfọn – mosquito

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

6 Ọsàn yẹn - That orange.

Perhaps the knpwledge of the tonal marks just learnt may enable you to pronounce the words in the brainwork above again.

Now try and pronounce the words again.

1 rán – to sew; yán – to yawn; ọsàn – orange

2 yẹn – that hẹn - yes

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

4 fọn – to blow [a trumpet]; pón – to be ripe èfọn – mosquito

1.3.2 SINGULAR AND PLURAL

The article ‘àwọn’ is used to express plurality of Yoruba nouns.

For instance:

Singular Plural

ọsàn – orange àwọn ọsàn - oranges

èfọn – mosquito àwọn èfọn - mosquitoes

ọmọ - child àwọn ọmọ - children

Ilé – house àwọn ilé - houses

ènìyàn – person àwọn ènìyàn – person/people

1.4 COUNTING

1.4.1 Numeral Cardinals Ordinals

1 òkan/ení 1^st – èkíní

2 méjì 2^nd– èkejì

3 méta 3^rd – èkẹta

4 mérin 4^th – èkẹrin

5 màrún 5^th – èkarùn

6 méfà 6^th – èkẹfà

7 méje 7^th – èkeje

8méjọ8^th– èkẹjọ

9 mèsán 9^th – èkẹsàn

10 mèwá 10^th – èkẹwà

BRAINWORK

E.g. First orange – ọsàn èkíní [not èkíní ọsàn]

Three children – àwọn ọmọ méta [not àwọn méta ọmọ]

Now try this:

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

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

3 ------------------- - ọmọ èkẹta

4 ------------------- - ọsàn èkẹrin

1.4.2 Counting Of Items

For Example – Fún Àpẹẹrẹ:

i One orange = ọsàn òkan.

ii Two children = àwọn ọmọ méjì

iii Ten houses = àwọn ilé mèwá

iv Four people – àwọn ènìyàn mérin

v Sixth person – ènìyàn èkẹfà.

BRAINWORK:

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

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

3 --------------------------- - àwọn ilé méjọ.

4 --------------------------- àwọn ènìyàn màrún

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

6 ------------------------- - àwọn ọsàn méjọ.

1.5 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 ‘òkan’ ‘méjì’ e.t.c

That is:

1 – òkan 11 – mókànlá 11^th - èkọkanlá

2 _ méjì 12 – méjìlá 12^th – èkejìlá

3 – méta 13 – métàlá 13^th – èkẹtàlá

4 – mérin 14 – mérìnlá 14^th - èkẹrinlá

Numbers 15 to 20 requires a little subtraction to understand.

For instance:

‘5 less from 20 = 15’ while ‘4 less from 20 = 16’ etc

Note: “less from” is written as “dín” while 20 is “ogún”.

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

15 = màrúndínlógún 5(marun) less from (din) 20(ogun)

16 = mérindínlógún i.e. (4 less from 20)

17 = métadínlógún i.e. (3 less from 20)

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

19 = mókàndínlógún i.e. (1 less from 20)

20 = ogún

We shall stop counting for now.

BRAINWORK

1 Count 1 to 20 at a stretch, orally,

2 Write 1- 20 in Yoruba words, by heart.

3 Sixteen children - ọmọ ______

4 _______________ - àwọn ọsán méjìlá

5 Eighteen houses - _______________________

6 _____________ - àwọn ọmọ marundinlogun

7 Seventeen people - _______________

8 Seventeenth person - ____________

CHAPTER 2

2.0 GREETINGS -IKINI

2.1 Vocabularies

day – ọjó

morning – àárò

afternoon – òsán

evening – alé

sunset – ìròlé

return – àbò

work – isé

tomorrow – òla

today – òní

yesterday – àná

be watchful/sorry/take heart – pèlé

week – òsè

month – osù

year – ọdún

time – asiko, àkòkò

period/season – ìgbà

2.2 To Greet with the Vocabularies:

‘Good’ is translated ‘Ẹ kú’

Therefore:

Good + morning = Ẹ kú + àárò

Similarly,

Thanks [for] + yesterday = Ẹ sé + àná

And so;

Good morning – Ẹ kú àárò

Good afternoon – Ẹ kú òsán

Good return – Ẹ kú àbò [i.e. Welcome]

2.3 To Bid someone ‘Till Morning’, ‘Afternoon’ etc

‘Till’ is translated as ‘Ó dà..…’

So,

Till + tomorrow – Ó dà + òla

Till tomorrow – Ó dà òla

Till + afternoon = Ó dà + òsán

Till afternoon = Ó dà òsán

Hence,

Till tomorrow – Ó dà òla

Till sunset – Ó dà ìròlé

Till morning – Ó dà àárò [i.e. Good night]

Till you return – Ó dà àbò. [i.e. Good bye]

Other Greetings Are:

Sorry/ It is a pity - Pèlé

Thank you - O sé

Thanks [for] yesterday - O sé àná

It’s quite a long time – Ẹ kú ọjó méta [Literally, this means, ‘it’s been some three days’]

BRAINWORK

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

2 Good return (welcome) - ---------------------------

3 Good work (well-done) -------------------------------

4 --------------------------------- - Ò dà òsán.

5 ---------------------------------- - Ẹ kú ọjó méta

6 ---------------------------------- - Ò dà alé

7 Thanks - -----------------

8 ------------------------------- - Odún mèfà

9 One week - -------------------------------

10 The fourth month - ------------------------------

2.4 More on Greetings:

ETC

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LEARN YORUBA FREE

LEARN TO SPEAK YORUBA WITHIN A VERY SHORT TIME

CHAPTER 1

A are

i. -an e.g. san - to pay is pronounced ‘sun’

ii. -ẹn e.g. yẹn - that is pronounced (Japanese) ‘yen’

CHAPTER 2

BRAINWORK