Writing systems:
abjads |
alphabets |
syllabic alphabets |
syllabaries |
semanto-phonetic scripts
undeciphered scripts |
alternative scripts |
your con-scripts |
A-Z index |
Direction index
Writing systems:
abjads |
alphabets |
syllabic alphabets |
syllabaries |
semanto-phonetic scripts
undeciphered scripts |
alternative scripts |
your con-scripts |
A-Z index |
Direction index
Yorùbá is one of the four official languages of Nigeria and is a member of the Niger-Congo family of languages. It is spoken by about 22 million people in southwest Nigeria, Benin, Togo, the UK, Brazil and the USA.
Yorùbá first appeared in writing during the 19th century. The first Yorùbá publications were a number of teaching booklets produced by John Raban in 1830-2. The person who made the biggest contribution to Yorùbá literacy was Bishop Ajayi (Samual) Crowther (1806-1891), who studied many of the languages of Nigeria, including Yorùbá, and wrote and translated in some of them. Crowther was also the first Christian bishop of West African origin. A Yorùbá orthography appeared in about 1850, though it has undergone a number of changes since then.
You can hear the sounds of the Yorùbá alphabet at:
http://www.africa.uga.edu/Yoruba/alphabet.html
Yorùbá is a tonal language with three tones: high, mid and low. The high tone is indicated by an acute accent (á, é, ẹ́, í, ó, ọ́ and ú). The mid tone is not marked and the low tone is marked with a grave acute (à, è, ẹ̀, ì, ò, ọ̀ and ù).
(1) ọkan/mení, (2) méjì (3) mẹta (4) mẹrin (5) màrún (6) mẹfà (7) méje (8) mẹjọ (9) mẹsan (10) mẹwa
(1st) èkíní , (2nd) èkejì (3rd) ẹkẹta (4th) ẹkẹrin (5th) èkarùn (6th) ẹkẹfà (7th) èkeje (8th) ẹkẹjọ (9th) ẹkẹsàn (10th) ẹkẹwà
Gbogbo ènìyàn ni a bí ní òmìnira; iyì àti ẹ̀tọ́ kọ̀ọ̀kan sì dọ́gba. Wọ́n ní ẹ̀bùn ti làákàyè àti ti ẹ̀rí-ọkàn, ó sì yẹ kí wọn ó máa hùwà sí ara wọn gẹ́gẹ́ bí ọmọ ìyá.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They
are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another
in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Yoruba language learning materials
Online Yorùbá lessons
http://www.learnyoruba.com/
http://www.kazicom.cwc.net/yorubaworld/frame.htm
http://www.africa.uga.edu/Yoruba/
http://sites.google.com/site/learnyorubafree/
Online Yoruba dictionary
http://www.yoruba.georgiasouthern.edu
Akan, Bambara, Bemba, Chichewa, Duala, Ewe, Ewondo, Ga, Ganda, Herero, Igbo, Kirundi, Kpelle, Lingala, Mende, Ndebele, OshiWambo, Shona, Southern Sotho, Swahili, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Twi, Wolof, Xhosa, Yorùbá, Zulu
Other languages written with the Latin alphabet
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