Yoruba survival kit

About this kit

Yoruba is spoken by around 50 million people in Nigeria, Benin and Togo. A tonal language of immense cultural depth (Nollywood, afrobeats, Orisha mythology), it accompanies you in Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta and the spiritual cradle of Ile-Ife.

Yoruba has around 50 million speakers, mainly in southwestern Nigeria (Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Kwara States), Benin and Togo. The Yoruba diaspora reached Brazil and Cuba through the slave trade, giving birth to Candomble and Santeria, religious traditions that preserve Yoruba vocabulary and liturgy. Yoruba belongs to the Niger-Congo family, Volta-Niger branch.

The language stands out first for its tones: three tones (high, mid, low) radically change word meaning. "Igba" can mean twenty, garden, calabash or period depending on tones. The official orthography uses accents (acute for high, grave for low, none for mid) and subscript dots under some vowels (e, o) or under the "s" to mark "sh". The Latin alphabet has been standardized since the 19th century. Grammar is analytic with subject-verb-object order and very little inflection: meaning is carried by word order and context.

Traveling in Yoruba country without a few words means missing the social codes that structure every interaction. Greetings, long and finely tuned to the time of day ("E kaaaro" in the morning, "E kaasan" in the afternoon, "E kaale" in the evening), to the status and age of the speaker, are the key to Yoruba hospitality. Saying "Bawo ni", thanking with "E se" or replying "O daabo" for goodbye instantly warms up any exchange. This kit gathers the minimum to handle an arrival in Lagos, a danfo ride, a jollof rice order and a medical emergency.