PhotoCredit: ede-yoruba.com

John Taiwo Adeniji

Language can be asserted to share certain distinctive human characteristics such as dynamism, mobility, vulnerability to death, and even family membership. Scholarships in language study identify the Yoruba language as part of the Yoruboid branch of the Niger-Congo language family. The Yoruba language is native to Nigeria where it is widely spoken in the southwestern region of the country. Within Africa, the Yoruba language is also native to Benin and Togo where it has gained widespread use amongst smaller groups that are scattered across these regions, thus its status as a recognized minority language in these regions. Migrant groups across The Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Côte d’Ivoire are other dialectical areas where the Yoruba language is spoken.

Statistical data according to Ethnologue indicate that the Yoruba language “is supported by multiple tools such as “content in digital form and/or encoding tools”, “spell checking or localized tools or machine translation” as well as “some speech processing.” The existence of a substantial amount of literature in the Yoruba language has accorded it widespread use outside Africa. Publications in the Yoruba language as of today include newspapers, and educational materials such as textbooks, dictionaries etc. Besides the language is also used as the language of media and administration, however to a limited extent. In fact beyond the continent, the Yoruba language is the most widely spoken African language, spoken in Cuba, Brazil, and the United Kingdom among other European countries.

Out of the 36 states comprising the Federal Republic of Nigeria namely, the Yoruba language is Indigenous to roughly 11 states including Ondo, Edo, Kwara, Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Kogi, Oyo, Osun, and Plateau in the South West, North Central geopolitical zones; and Edo in South-South geopolitical zone. Different varieties of the language are distributed across these regions. Some widely use dialects of the Yoruba language include the Ekiti, Ife, Ijebu, Oworo, Ijesha, Ikale, Okun, Egba, Awori, Igbomina, Owo, Idanre, Yewa, Ilaje, Ketu, Ondo, Ibarapa, Oyo, Onko, Usẹn amongst an estimated thirty-four variation viz five major dialect areas namely Northwest, Northeast, Central, Southwest, and Southeast. However, the Oyo dialect is the most widely used variety of the Yoruba language and the standardized form of the language used in formal settings such as those relating to education, religion, government, etc.

What is today referred to as the Standard Yoruba can be traced to mid 19th century, and can be said to have connection with the publication of a Yoruba grammar by the Osogun-born Yoruba linguist, clergyman, and the first African Anglican bishop of West Africa, Samuel Ajayi Crowther in the 1850s at what time he also undertook the task of translating the Bible into Yoruba language. His translation has its roots in the Oyo and Ibadan dialects to a large extent although elements of other varieties were also incorporated. Crowther’s translation was based on the Latin writing system. A more recent system in which the Yoruba language is written is the Oduduwa script which was created in around 2016/17 by a Yoruba chief of Benin origin named Tolúlàṣẹ Ògúntósìn. However, this writing system has yet to gain widespread use.

Orthographically, the Yoruba language is composed of twenty-five alphabets which comprises seven vowels and eighteen consonants. Phonologically, the Yoruba vowels are represented as twelve vowels viz. “a”, “e”, “ẹ”, “i”, “o”, “ọ”, “u”, and five nasal vowels viz. “an”, “ẹn”, “in”, “ọn”, “un.” The present-day orthography of the Yoruba language derives from consideration of earlier orthography and the attempt to build an orthography that is in line with the spoken form of the language. A 1966 report of a Yoruba Orthography Committee is particularly vital to the development of the current orthography of the language as well as Ayo Bamgbose’s 1965 publication on Yoruba Orthography.

Like every other language, the Yoruba language has had its fair share of influence typical of language contact in a multilingual society. Of particular impact on the language is Arabic. This could be as a result of the practice of Islam by several indigenous Yoruba languages. Words such as “sànmà” (sky), “àlùbáríkà” (blessing), “àlùmáánì” (wealth), and certain words indicating the days of the week such as “Àlàmísì” (Thursday), Jímọ̀h (Friday) have their root in Arabic.

Although the Yoruba language in terms of its vitality can be said to be institutional, the continuous jettisoning of the language in favour of European languages, particularly the English language is alarming and calls for redress. In view of the potential of the Yoruba language to spread beyond the borders of Africa given that substantial literature exists, Indigenous speakers of the language must cultivate the habit of passing the language on to the coming generation, not only as a form of diligence to their language, but also as a means of preserving their identity in a world where identities are submerged for so-called high cultures.