# kiniun
## Yoruba
### Etymology

Compare with Ifè kìnìwú. It is not related to almost any Volta-Niger roots for lion, and cognates do not exist in other Proto-Edekiri or Proto-Yoruba descended languages spoken east of the Yoruba homeland, such as Itsekiri, Olukumi, or Igala. Its relation to Fon kinikíní, Gun kinnikinni, Aja kinnikinni, as well as the significance of the "lion" in the cultures of Gbe-speaking peoples, but a lack of significance of the lion in Yorubaland (compared to the leopard) because of its absence in the tropical forests of most of Yorubaland (words for "lion" do not exist in many Niger-delta languages, as well as in Ayere or Ukaan), may explain why a native root did not persist. Thus, perhaps this comes from any of the various Gbe-roots, which was then borrowed and spread east across the forest among Yoruba-dialects, and then ending at the savanna (where native or locally derived terms for lion would exist).
See Proto-Yoruba *kɪ̃̀nɪ̃̀wṹ, while this term is shared between many Yoruba dialects, but a single form cannot be formally reconstructed to the level of Proto-Yoruboid because of linguistic considerations.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kì.nĩ̀.ṹ/

### Noun

kìnìún
* lion

#### Synonyms

Yoruba Varieties and Languages - kìnìún (“lion”) :
| view map; |||||
| Language Family | Variety Group | Variety/Language | Location | Words |
| Proto-Itsekiri-SEY | Southeast Yoruba | Eastern Àkókó | Ọ̀bà Àkókó | kìnnìún |
| Proto-Itsekiri-SEY | Southeast Yoruba | Ìkálẹ̀ | Òkìtìpupa | kẹ̀nnẹ̀ún |
| Proto-Itsekiri-SEY | Southeast Yoruba | Oǹdó | Oǹdó | kẹ̀nnẹ̀ún |
| Proto-Itsekiri-SEY | Southeast Yoruba | Ọ̀wọ̀ | Ọ̀wọ̀ | ìkìnnìún |
| Proto-Itsekiri-SEY | Ìtsẹkírì | Ìtsẹkírì | Ìwẹrẹ | okpoghorokpò |
| Proto-Yoruba | Central Yoruba | Èkìtì | Àdó Èkìtì | ị̀kị̀nnị̀ún, kị̀nnị̀ụ́n |
| Proto-Yoruba | Central Yoruba | Èkìtì | Àkúrẹ́ | ị̀kị̀nnị̀ún, kị̀nnị̀ụ́n |
| Proto-Yoruba | Central Yoruba | Èkìtì | Òdè Èkìtì | ị̀kị̀nnị̀ún, kị̀nnị̀ụ́n |
| Proto-Yoruba | Central Yoruba | Èkìtì | Òmùò Èkìtì | ị̀kị̀nnị̀ún, kị̀nnị̀ụ́n |
| Proto-Yoruba | Central Yoruba | Èkìtì | Awó Èkìtì | ị̀kị̀nnị̀ún, kị̀nnị̀ụ́n |
| Proto-Yoruba | Northwest Yoruba | Èkó | Èkó | kìnìún, kìnnìún |
| Proto-Yoruba | Northwest Yoruba | Ìbàdàn | Ìbàdàn | kìnìún, kìnnìún |
| Proto-Yoruba | Northwest Yoruba | Ìlọrin | Ìlọrin | kìnìún, kìnnìún |
| Proto-Yoruba | Northwest Yoruba | Ọ̀yọ́ | Ọ̀yọ́ | kìnìún, kìnnìún |
| Proto-Yoruba | Northwest Yoruba | Ọ̀yọ́ | Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́ | kìnìún, kìnnìún |
| Proto-Yoruba | Northwest Yoruba | Ọ̀yọ́ | Ìkirè | kìnìún, kìnnìún |
| Proto-Yoruba | Northwest Yoruba | Ọ̀yọ́ | Ìwó | kìnìún, kìnnìún |
| Proto-Yoruba | Northwest Yoruba | Standard Yorùbá | Nàìjíríà | kìnìún, kìnnìún |
| Proto-Yoruba | Northwest Yoruba | Standard Yorùbá | Bɛ̀nɛ̀ | kìnìún, kìnnìún |
| Proto-Yoruba | Northeast Yoruba/Okun | Owé | Kabba | kìnìùn |
| Proto-Yoruba | Ede Languages/Southwest Yoruba | Ọ̀họ̀rí/Ɔ̀hɔ̀rí-Ìjè | Ìmẹ̀kọ (Kétu Dialect) | kẹ̀nnẹ̀ún |
| Proto-Yoruba | Ede Languages/Southwest Yoruba | Ifɛ̀ | Akpáré | kìnìwú, dzàntá |
| Proto-Yoruba | Ede Languages/Southwest Yoruba | Ifɛ̀ | Atakpamé | kìnìwú, dzàntá |
| Proto-Yoruba | Ede Languages/Southwest Yoruba | Ifɛ̀ | Est-Mono | kìnìwú, dzàntá |
| Proto-Yoruba | Ede Languages/Southwest Yoruba | Ifɛ̀ | Tchetti | kìnìwú, dzàntá |
| Note: This amalgamation of terms comes from a number of different academic papers focused on the unique varieties and languages spoken in the Yoruboid dialectal continuum which extends from eastern Togo to southern Nigeria. The terms for spoken varieties, now deemed dialects of Yorùbá in Nigeria (i.e. Southeast Yorùbá, Northwest Yorùbá, Central Yorùbá, and Northeast Yorùbá), have converged with those of Standard Yorùbá leading to the creation of what can be labeled Common Yorùbá (Funṣọ Akere, 1977). It can be assumed that the Standard Yorùbá term can also be used in most Nigerian varieties alongside native terms, especially amongst younger speakers. This does not apply to the other Nigerian Yoruboid languages of Ìṣẹkírì and Olùkùmi, nor the Èdè Languages of Benin and Togo. |||||

#### Related terms

* ẹkùn (“big cat, leopard”)