Talk:Yoruba language/Archive 1

message: We need the Unicode of a dot under s. --Menchi (Talk)â 03:55, 14 Dec 2003 (UTC)
thread_title: Unicode needed

message: A distinction needs to be made between Yorùbá as a language, and New World religious traditions that derive in part from the beliefs of the Yorùbá people. They are not the same thing, and as such, references to Lukumi and Candomblé in the Yorùbá language entry are inappropriate. Also note that Vodun (aka "Voodoo) is not a Yorùbá-derived religious tradition - indeed the "v" sound doesn't even occur in the Yorùbá language - but one of mostly Ewe origin. --User:Abiola Lapite (Talk) â 10:58, 24 Mar 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Language and religion

message: This article uses the native spelling "Yorùbá" but I cannot find this as an English spelling in any of the major online dictionaries: AHD, Collins, Encarta, M-W. Could somebody add to the article explaining how this spelling relates to English, for instance, has Nigeria asked that people use this spelling even in English? If there is no evidence for this spelling, the article should be moved to the traditional English spelling without the native accents which indicate tones not used in the English pronunciation. — Hippietrail 08:22, 5 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I concur. Yoruba is the most frequent spelling. Just like we don't write 'Eʋe language' but Ewe language. — mark ✎ 08:25, 5 September 2005 (UTC)

text: I also concur. Out of the two "Yoruba" makes more sense since the ú and à aren't read differently in English.---moyogo 13:12, September 5, 2005 (UTC)
I've moved it. Plenty of space in the article to point out the real pronunciation. — mark ✎ 15:08, 8 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Spelling Yorùbá vs Yoruba 

message: In my browser the table with consonants and the one with the general information overlap rather uglily. Is there no way of fixing this? David  14:45, 14 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: There is one that I know of: expanding the article. I will take care of it. — mark ✎ 17:22, 14 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, thanks. It's okay right now. David  10:34, 8 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  tables overlap 

message: To any native speakers of Yoruba reading this: please consider starting up the Yoruba Wikipedia. I think there is a lot of potential there. If you need any help, contact me; I was granted sysop rights there so I can help out with deleting pages, moving things, etc. — mark ✎ 09:51, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Yoruba wikipedia 

message: The consonant table has a character under "alveolar approximant;" however, the symbol in this position is that of an alveolar flap. Which is the correct sound? GoodSirJava 07:13, 4 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Good point. The flap [ɾ] is listed in Bamgbose's 1966 grammar; in southwestern dialects (Lagos etc.) you often hear [ɹ], so I suspect this is simply regional variation. I've added a clarifying remark. Of course, technically, [ɾ] should have it's own row in the table according to manner of articulation, but I've collapsed this row into the approximants to make the table a little neater. — mark ✎ 09:01, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

text: We're talking about [ɹ], and it should read postalveolar, as it does now. Thanks for pointing it out! — mark ✎ 07:04, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Yoruba Rhotic 

message: Can someone please tell me how to say 47 in Yoruba? I am collecting that number and I have reasons to think that the version I got is wrong. Please help... it would be nice if you could answer on my talk page. — N-true 13:39, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The Yoruba number system is notoriously complex, so your best bet would be to ask a native speaker. But here's what Sachnine (1997) gives: 47 = 7 + 20 x 2 = méje.lé.ní.ogún.èjì (seven.on.to.twenty.two). In normal Yoruba speech, this would be rendered as méjelélógójì, i.e. the words are run together. What form do you have? — mark ✎ 14:10, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks very much. I had mẹtadiladọta, where the accents are missing and which (I think) means actually 3 less than 50. There don't happen to be any dots below the o or e in the version of yours? — N-true 15:46, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: No, seven (méje), twenty (ogún) and two (èjì) all are words without dots. Your version is an archaic one, also given by Abraham (1958:xxxv), but it looks like there are some typos in there. You are right that it means three less than 50; note that 50 is actually expressed as 10 less than 20x3 here (literally ten removed from (àádí) twenty (ogún) times (ò̩) three (è̩ta)). Properly spelled and accented, your older version looks like this: è̩tadíló̩gó̩ta. — mark ✎ 17:37, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  47 in Yoruba? 

message: I removed the sentence "North-West Yoruba is historically a part of the benin empire". I assume that the author meant the Oyo empire, since Benin influence was restricted to eastern sectors, but I'm not clear on why that would be useful in this linguistic context anyway. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Osomalo (talk • contribs) 
:Yes, that's a good change. — mark ✎ 07:43, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removing Sentence on Benin influence

message: "There are two ‘prepositions’: ní ‘on, at, in’ and sí ‘onto, towards’. "
How does Yoruba express movement "from"?/Nicke L 23:41, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Good question... —Nightstallion (?) 16:37, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Prepositions 

message: Recently, the site Abibitumikasa.com was added to the external links a few times, but swiftly removed for being political and POV. Now, the site is definitely highly political, but that in itself wouldn't necessarily be a reason to remove it, if it offered useful info on the Yoruba language in manners specified in Wikipedia:External links. However, I have checked the YorubaResources board of the site thoroughly, and I have found that it is mainly a collection of materials found elsewhere on the web (including, even, a verbatim copy of Wikipedia's own entry on Yoruba). Copyright problems aside, I do not think this site contains "neutral and accurate material not already in the article". Therefore, I don't see the added value and support its removal. — mark ✎ 11:11, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Abibitumikasa.com 

message: While the 'Yoruba people' article lists up to 44 million Yorubas in Nigeria alone, this articles says there are only 22 million speakers of the language? Why the discrepancy? I think that the number of Yorubas is inflated. I lived in Nigeria for my first sixteen years and doubt that Yorubas make up one-third of Nigeria's population. In any case, the number of Yoruba speakers should be higher than the number of Yorubas in Nigeria since Yoruba speakers exist in Benin and Togo as well as this article states. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 137.146.173.192 (talk) 07:24, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: There is this trend for anonymous editors to come along and inflate the population estimates. That's where the 40 million in Yoruba people comes from; I have now reverted it. 22 million is much more realistic and it is based on reliable sources. — mark ✎ 08:07, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Number of Yoruba speakers 

message: In this article it is said that Yoruba was written with Arabic script in the 17th century. There is a footnote and link to an article that deals with Arabic and Ajami manuscripts in the Northern Nigeria. I have not found, however, in that article any  mention of 17th century Yoruba texts. Other sources usually claim that Yoruba was not written before 19th century. So is this claim of 17th century written Yoruba based on reliable information or is it somekind of mistake, perhaps?89.27.60.158 (talk) 18:47, 18 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  17th century written Yoruba? 

message: I've removed several paragraphs by 78.146.98.229 for what appears to be a combination of questionable source, POV, and irrelevance to the History section. Large parts of the paragraphs are copied verbatim by the same person to the Yoruba people page, which I have also removed. I checked out the source in question, and it appears to be a religious site, not a linguistics source. Talu42 (talk) 18:49, 20 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  History 

message: Yorùbá (native name èdè Yorùbá, 'the Yorùbá language') is a dialect continuum of West Africa with over 20 million speakers. The native tongue of the approximately 30 million Yoruba people, it is spoken, among other languages, in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo .
So Yoruba has 20 million speakers, yet is the native tongue of 30 million people... (Alright, it says 'over') The distinction between a native language and the language that certain people in a given ethnicity speak aren't always the same thing, and I think that it's a bit blurred here. What do other people think? Aikuaiki (talk) 23:51, 1 September 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Confusing Wording? 

message: The Yoruba words presumed to be burrowed from Islam are pretty well recognisable by Yoruba people except for 'Olorun' (the deity) said to be a derivative of 'Alahu'. That is absolutely not correct. Orun is the Yoruba name for the Heavens. Olu is the most common Yoruba name and it means 'the main one' or the 'hero'. The main one in heaven is the 'Olu Orun', written in the Yoruba fashion of amalgamating adjacent vowels, it becomes 'Olorun'  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Oltunde (talk • contribs) 00:39, 31 October 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Olorun 

message: Baale is another word suggested as having an Islamic influence. This could not be further from the truth and if you pardon my enthusiasm, I think it is a little bit insultive to the Yoruba heritage. Baba is the Yoruba word for 'Father' or 'Elderly man'. Most words have alternatives but it is hard to find a suitable alternative to the word 'Baba' for 'Elderly man' in the Yoruba language. This is not surprising as most languages settle for similar words -papa for example. Thus, 'my father' is 'Baba mi' or 'Baa mi' when spoken.  Other examples of the 'Baa' prefix are given below. It is certainly not acceptable to isolate one of them (for its similarity to a foreign word) and assume a totally different etymology when there is a very clear pattern already established.
me = mi. My Father = Baa-mi
War = Ogun. Father of War (General) Ba-l-ogun
Land/County = Ilҿ. Father of the Land (Lord) Baa-lҿ. Pronounced Baa-leh, leh as in 'less'
House = Ile. Father of my house, Man in my house Baa-le. Pronounced as in 'lay'  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Oltunde (talk • contribs) 01:17, 31 October 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Baale