A Sketch of Yoruba Grammar

A SKETCH OF YORUBA GRAMMAR The efforts we have seen made to produce a Yoruba Grammar on the exact lines of an EngHsh or Latin Grammar represent in our opinion an honest labour, highly commendable indeed it may be, but totally in the wrong direction, and little calculated to elucidate the genius of the language. On the contrary, they go a long way to obscure it. The Yoruba belongs to the agglutinated order of speech, not to the inflectional. When therefore particles are used to form cases, etc., it is mere pedantry to talk of declensions. It is a notorious fact that educated Yorubas find it much easier to read an Enghsh book than a Yoruba production—which until recently are mostly translations. With an effort they may plod through it, but they do not enjoy reading it, and sometimes do not even understand it. The main reasons for this are :— 1. The orthography of the language is still very defective. 2. The style in which the books are written. This may simply be described as English ideas in Yoruba words : the result is often obscurity and confusion of thought. In the " Church Missionary Intelligencer " for March, 1880, a missionary to Japan, who had experienced a similar difificulty, wrote thus :— " There is great danger, in all use of this language, of thinking that when we have rendered various English words into Japanese we have of necessity expressed the thoughts which the English words convey. Language may correspond to language, but the thoughts to which the language is the vehicle may be as distant as the poles. Our language must be idiomatic or the natives will fail to see the points on which we are endeavouring to lay so much stress." The writer has on several occasions- read portions of Yoruba translations to intelligent but purely uneducated Yoruba men. They would show that they comprehended (not without an effort) what was read to them by putting pertinent questions, but then they would add, " We can understand what you mean to say, but what you read there is not Yoruba ; it may be hook language (£de I we)." The rock of stumbling is the desire of translators to reproduce every word and particle of the English in its exact equivalent in Yoruba, regardless of idiom, and thereby obscuring the sense of the latter. In taking up a Yoruba book one is forcibly struck by the difference in style between quotations of pure Yoruba stories, phrases, or proverbs, and the notes and observations of the writer. The former runs smooth and clear, the latter appears stiff and obscure, because the writer, with his knowledge of the English grammar and language, wrote English ideas and idioms in Yoruba words, illustrating what is said above. When such systems are employed in writing a Yoruba Grammar, such a grammar may be usefiil in teaching English to Yoruba boys, but that is not a Yoruba grammar. We deem these observations necessary because in the following pages we shall have occasion to render Yoruba words into English and vice versa ; a very literal translation will not be adhered to when, by so doing, the sense and force of the language will be obscured and weakened. The Formation of Words The formation of words in Yoruba appears to be a very simple process ; any consonant with a vowel attached will form a word (or three words, according to the variation of the tone or accent). That word will probably be a verb ; it will certainly possess the form of one, either current or obsolete. This word will, moreover, be the root of a whole class of words. By prefixing a vowel to it a noun may be formed ; with other prefixes also some other words may be formed from the same root, e.g., da to make, gda, a creature ; from which we have eleda, creator. Lk, to spUt; ilk, a cut; elk, halves of a whole ; kla, a boundary. Rii, to carry ; eru, a load ; alarij, a carrier; elerii, owner of a load. Fe, to love ; Ife, love ; Ifeni, brotherly love, charity. Thus verbs are mostly monosyllables, formed by one consonant and a vowel, and nouns disyllables in which the first syllable is a vowel, and the second a verbal root. The penultimate vowel is sometimes strengthened by a consonant. Adjectives are mostly formed from nouns (or as nouns) by pre- fixing the consonant of the verbal root ; e.g., dida, made or created ; hlk, fissured ; so also from m6, to know ; im^, knowledge, mim^, known. Adverbs are generally dupUcation of the adjective, e.g., didun, sweet; didun-didun, very sweet; dara, good; dara-dara, very good. What is here called a verbal root may be an obsolete word or one not generally in use, but other words can be formed from it all the same. There are some primitive words the origin of whose roots has been lost, e.g., omi, water ; ina, fire ; igi, wood ; aso, clothes ; etc. With rare exceptions, nouns not beginning with a vowel are either of foreign origin, or onomatopoetic : this latter being very common. There are, of course, exceptions to the above rules, but these will be found to be the fundamental methods of forming Yoruba words. We cannot within the compass of an introduction, give a complete sketch of a Yoruba Grammar, but we may state that the Unes laid down in Crowther's Vocabulary of the Yoruba language and in Notes on the Formation of Words by the Rt. Rev. O. E. Vidal, the first Bishop of Sierra Leone, if properly developed and fully worked out, will prove both very useful and instructive. The Parts of Speech There are eight parts of speech. They are as in the English Grammar, the " Article " being excepted. The Yoruba language has no article, but when definiteness is required the numeral kan (contracted from Okan, one) is used for a or an, and the demonstrative na or ni (that, the said one) is used for the definite article the. The use of the numeral one in place of the article is not unknown even in English. " The numeral one is an indefinite demonstrative when used as the article an "—Mason, The word kan therefore cannot be correctly called an article simply because it is made to do duty for it. In Yoruba books translated from the Enghsh, where the translator endeavours to render every word and particle into its Yoruba equivalent, we often find these particles used where a pure Yoruba, speaking, would not use an article. Hence the Yoruba of translations often sounds rather quaint. Literal translations regardless of differences of idiom, often result in ambiguity or nonsense. In the British colonies of Sierra Leone and Lagos, where the Yoruba element predominates, and where the English language is often heard spoken with local accents and local idioms, the articles are frequently left out where an Englishman would use them, e.g., I see snake, for I saw a snake. Water full, for the river is full. Here the local English sounds rather quaint, because the speaker simply expresses his Yoruba ideas in EngUsh words without the article. Again, we may say in Yoruba, O joko lori aga " (He is sitting on a chair) " 0 nmu koko taba " (he is smoking a pipe) No one would ever think of adding the particle kan after aga or koko taha by way of expressing the article a. So also we may say " Mo pade Yesufu ni Odo Osun " (I met Joseph at the River Osun), or " Mo iilo sf gja " (I am going to the market). No one would use the particle nd after Osun or oja to indicate the article the as its English equivalent. But we can say " Okonrin na ti de " (the man is come). " Mo pade Okonrin na " (I met the man). " Omode kan nduro de g " (a child is waiting for you). " Mo pa ejo kan " (I have killed a snake). In which cases definiteness is required and consequently the particles representing the articles a, an and the are used. These examples are sufficient to show that the articles do not exist in the Yoruba language, but where definiteness is required, equivalents can be found. We deem these illustrations necessary as in books on Yoruba Grammar the " article " forms one of the Parts of Speech. Noun Nouns generally in their simplest form are formed by prefixing a vowel to a verbal root ; as b§, to shear ; abe, razor ; de, to cover (the head) ; ade, crown ; da, to cease ; oda, drought ; s^, to offend ; ese, sin. So also the verbals alo, going ; abg, coming from, Ig, to go ; and bg, to come. But the prefixes have certain peculiarities of their own. Thus : a prefixed indicates an agent, one who does a thing, e.g., ke, to cut ; ake, an axe—an agent for cutting wood. Da to break ; ida, a cutlass ; yun, to file, ayun, a file or a saw. o or 0, the same as a but restricted in their use, e.g., lu, to bore ,* olu, a gimlet ; 16, to grind ; ol6, a grinder ; we, to swim ; ow^, a swimmer ; de, to hunt ; gde, a hunter. e prefixed indicates a noun in the concrete, e.g., ru, to carry ; eru, a load ; mi; to breathe ; emi, the breath, spirit. i prefixed denotes a noun in the abstract, e.g., m6, to know ; im5, knowledge ; ri, to see ; iriri, experience. The vowels e and u are rarely used. Gender.—The Yoruba language being non-inflective, genders cannot be distinguished by their terminal syllables, but by pre- fixing the words ako, male, and aho, female, to the common term ; and sometimes okonrin, a man and obirin, a woman ; e.g., akg- esin, a horse, stallion abo-esin, a mare ; akg-malu, a bull; abo- malu, a cow. Omc okonrin, a boy, i.e., a man child ; gmg-birin, a girl. In one case the masculine seems to be formed from the feminine, e.g., lyawo, a bride, gkg-iyawo, a bridegroom. Baba .. father lya . mother Okonrin . man Obirin . woman Oko . husband Aya . wife Apgn a bachelor Wundia . a spinster Apon . a widower Opo a widow )ruba langu age in which different female of the objects, e.g.:— Igbekun .. a male captive Igbesin . a female captive Oso" . a wizard Aje . a witch Agbo a ram Agutan . a sheep, a ewe Obuko . a he-goat Ewure . a goat Akuko . a cock Agbebo . a hen No other distinction of genders is known. The words arakgnrin and arabirin, used in translations for brother and sister, are purely coined words, not known to the illiterate Yoruba man not in touch with missionaries. To him they are " book-language " and must be explained. The English words brother and sister show th« relations as to sex only without indicating the relative age ; but the Yorubas, with whom distinction in age and seniority of birth are of primary importance, generally use the words egbgn and aburo, i.e., the elder and the younger relative, words which show the relative age only, without indicating the sex and are equally applicable to uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces and cousins however far removed, as well as to brothers and sisters. Our translators, in their desire to find a word expressing the Enghsh idea of sex rather than of age, coined the above words " arakonrin," i.e., the male relative; " arabirin," the female relative ; these words have always to be explained to the pure but ilUterate Yoruba man. But the words egbon okonrin or obirin and aburo gkonrin or obirin would be more intelligible to them and should be preferred, especially as it is always easy enough to find out the relative ages of the said brother or sister. We would recommend this to our translators. Proper names rarely show any distinction of sex, the great majority of them apply equally well to males as to females. See under " Yoruba Names," page 79- Number.—The plural of nouns cannot be formed from the singular, either by addition or by a change of form ; only from the context can it be known whether we are speaking of one or more than one: but when specification is desired the demonstrative pronoun awQti (they) or won (them) is used with the words, e.g., B Aw on okonrin na ti lo (the men have gone away). The bells are ringing—Awon agogo na nlu. Awon, however, is rarely used with things without life. When the plural nouns are indefinite, that is to say, without the definite article, the demonstrative awon is omitted, e.g., Walaha okuta meji—two tables of stone. Case.—There are three cases, the nominative, objective and possessive, as in the English language ; but in none of them is there a change of form. The nominative precedes and the objective follows after the transitive verb and preposition as usual, but in the case of the possessive, the thing possessed stands before the possessor with the particle ti expressed or understood between them, e.g., Moses' book, Iwe ti Musa, in which the particle ti is expressed. Iru esin, the horse's tail, in which the particle ti is understood. But although the particle ti is not expressed, yet its middle tone is preserved by lengthening the tone of the final vowel of the thing possessed. Thus we may say : Iwe (e) Musa, the book of Moses, Iru(u) e§in, the tail of the horse. Qro(g) Olorun, the word of God. Agbala(a) Oba, the court of the King. Oko Ore(e) mi. My friend's farm. The sound of the added tone is sometimes so slight as to be almost imperceptible, but it is always there, and is one of those fine points which are so difficult for the ear of foreigners to catch, and the absence of which marks out their defective accents. But when the noun in the possessive case stands alone, the particle ti must be expressed, e.g., David's, Ti Dauda. Moses's, Ti Musa. It is Joseph's, Ti Yesufu ni. Adjectives Adjectives are generally placed after the nouns they qualify, as Esin dudu, a black horse ; omo rere, a good child. They are placed before the nouns when some special attribute of that noun is to be emphasized, e.g., agidi omo, a stubborn child ; apa omo, a slovenly child ; alagbara okonrin, a brave fellow ; akg okuta, a very hard stone. These are really substantives used attributively. They may more correctly be regarded as nouns in the construct state, and not pure adjectives, e.g., " a brute of a man " is a more emphatic expression than " a brutish man." This view of showing the identity of a substantive with an adjective is clearly shown by Mason:— " The adjective was originally identical with the noun which, in the infancy of language, named objects by naming some attributes by which they were known. " In course of time the adjective was developed into a separate part of speech; the function of which was to attach itself to the noun ; even now it is sometimes difficult to draw the line between them, as nouns are sometimes used attributively and adjectives pass by various stages into nouns." Comparison of Adjectives Degrees of comparison cannot be formed from Yoruba adjectives. The words ju and juld which are generally used in Yoruba books and translations, and even stated in some grammars as forming the comparative and superlative degrees, are really adverbs signifying a greater or less degree than and as such may give a comparative sense only to the adjectives to which they are attached. The superlative is really non-existing; it can only be gathered from the context. The wordy« is only used in an elhptical sense iox julo when a comparison is being made, and it often appears in the form of tmesis ; e.g., He re tobi ju ti emi lo—Your house is larger than mine ; where lo is separated from ju by the words ti emi, and may be omitted without affecting the sense. When used otherwise, i.e., without any idea of comparison, ju is purely an adverb signifying too, too much or too little, e.g., 0 ga ju, it is too high ; O kere ju, it is too small. But a comparative idea can be gathered only from the context, and also whether the comparison is between two or many, and it is in that way alone a comparative and a superlative degree can be made out. " If we say, ' John is taller than all the other boys in the class,' we express the same relation as to height between John and the rest as if we should say, ' John is the tallest boy in the class.' But in the former case John is considered apart from the other boys of the class, so that the two objects which we have in mind are John and the other boys in the class. When the superlative degree is used John is considered as one of the group of boys compared with each other."—Mason. This latter sense is what cannot be expressed in Yoruba and therefore the language cannot be said to possess a superlative degree. The superlative idea can only be gathered from the context. It would be absurd to thus compare the adjective tall:— Positive, ga (tall) comparative, ga ju (too tall) ; superlative, ga ju lo (more tall than) which are not adjectives in the compara- tive and superlative sense at aU. To use words like these : Oga ogo julo, for the Most High ; or, Owu mi behe pup6 julo for I am most pleased at it, is to speak vile Yoruba. No pure Yoruba man uncontaminated with Enghsh ideas would speak in that way at all. As the genius of the Yoruba language, the working of the Yoruba mind, its ideas and idiosyncracies do not run in an Anglo- Saxon channel, it is not to be expected that the mode of expression will agree in every particular. Some teachers of the Yoruba language often fall into this error in their endeavours to find the exact equivalent in both languages. The Forms and Uses of Adjectives Every adjective has two forms, the attributive and the predica- tive, each depending upon the use thereof, e.g.:— A high mountain (attributive), Oke giga. The mountain is high (predicative), Oke na ga. In Yoruba, the attributive is formed from the predicative by reduplicating the initial consonant with the vowel i, e.g., strong pred., le, attrih., lile ; sweet, pred., dun, attrib., didun ; hot pred, gbona, attrih., gbigbona ; good, pred., dara ; attrib., didara, etc. Disyllables with the vowel m as a rule undergo no change, e.g., tutu, cold ; dudu, black ; funfun, white, etc. (the n being purely nasal). Although not in use, the same rule even here may also be applied. Pronouns. Pronouns are used in the same sense as in EngUsh. They are: I Personal, II Relative, and III Adjective ; there is no distinction in genders in any of the forms. The Personal includes the Reflexive. I. Personal Pronouns, (a) Nominative Case. Singular Plural ist Pers.: I Emi, mo (mo, mi) n We Awa, a 2nd ,, thou Iwo, o, (g) you eyin, e 3rd „ he, she it On, 6, (6) they Awon, won The full forms (sing.) emi, iwg, oii, (plural) awa, eyin, awon, are used when emphasis is to be laid on the person, but ordinarily the second forms (sing.) mo, o, 6, (plural) a, e, won, are used. Those in brackets (mo, mi, o, 6) are mere provincialisms for the former. 5J in the ist person is used only with the incomplete and future tenses, e.g., iilQ for emi yio lo, or Mo iilo, I am going, 5Jo lo for Emi yio lo, I shall go. He, when used in an indefinite sense, is eni, as : Eni ti o ba se e. He that doeth it. Eni ti o ba wa si ihin. He who comes here. (b) Possessive Case. Singular Plural 1st Pers. : Mine Ti emi Ours ti awa 2nd „ Thine Ti iwg or ti ire yours ti ^yin 3rd ,, his, hers, its Ti on or ti irg theirs ti awon It will be observed that the possessive forms, are simply the nominatives with the particle ti (meaning of) prefixed ; so that hterally they are of me, of you, of him, etc. In ordinary speech, however, the vowel of the particle always suffers elision in the singular number, but in the plural it is the initial vowel of the pronoun that is elided. Thus we have:— Sing. : t'emi, t'iwo or fire, t'ofi or fire Plural: ti'wa, ti'yin, ti'wgn. The apostrophe mark of elision is generally dispensed with in writing, e.g., we write temi, tiwa, tiwon, etc. Special notice should be taken of the forms tire and tir^ ; in the 2nd and 3rd pers. singular the difference lies only in the tone (or accent) ; in the 2nd pers. the tone of the first syllable is de- pressed, the second is middle, it is vice versa in the 3rd person. (c) Objective Case. Singular Plural ist Pers. : me mi us wa 2nd „ thee 0 you yin 3rd .. him, her, it a, e, e, i, 0, g, u them wgn The objective case as may be seen, consists of fragments of the nominative. It is really the terminal syllables of the first second and third persons, singular and plural. The third person singular calls for special rernarks: — It consists of the whole of the vowels, but the particular vowel made use of in each case is that of the transitive verb which pre- cedes the pronoun and governs the case, e.g., 0 pa a (he killed it), Mo pe e (I called him), Wgn te e (they bent it), A bo o (we covered it), etc. Where the verb ends in a nasal sound the vowel is also nasal, e.g., O kan a (he nailed it), A fun u (we gave him), etc. The tone of the pronoun in the objective case is influenced by that of the verb which governs it ; when that of the verb is raised the objective maintains the middle tone, e.g., O 16 g (he twisted it). Mo ka a (I picked it) ; and vice versa when that of the verb is middle, that of the objective is raised, e.g., O se ^ (he did it), O pa a (he killed it), 0 kan mi (it aches me). Again, when the tone of the verb is depressed, that of the pronoun is raised, e.g., 0 kkn mi (it touched me), Mo k^ a (I counted it), A pe won (we called them). The Reflexive The word tikara, incorporated wih the personal forms, is used to indicate the Reflexive. It is placed between the nominative and possessive cases, e.g., Singular Plural 1st Pers.: Emi tikara mi Awa tikara wa 2nd ,, Iwo tikara re Eyin tikara yin 3rd ,, Ofi tikara r§ Aw on tikara won The harsh r is generally softened into / so that instead of tikara we say tikala ; but in a flowing speech the / is dropped off altogether and the two a's blended and lengthened ; so we often hear Emi tik5 mi, Oil tika r^, Awa tika wa. II Relative Pronouns The Relative pronoun who, whose, whom, which, what, or that in Yoruba, is the simplest in any language. It consists solely of the particle ti and is used for every number, gender, person or case, e.g., I who called thee, Emi ti o pe o. The man whom I saw, Okgnrin ti mo ri. The birds which flew, Awgn eiye ti won fo. III. Adjective Pronouns These are :—(a) Possessive ; (b) Demonstrative ; (c) Distribu- tive ; (d) Indefinite ; and (e) Interrogative. (a) Possessive :— Singular Plural My mi Our wa thy re your jan his, her, its rfe their won Note.—Like adjectives, they come after the nouns they qualify, e.g.. My king, gba mi; your children, awon omo jdn ; their cattle, awon eran-osin won. (b) Demonstratives :—Singular Plural this yi, eyi, eyiyi these wonyi, iwonyi that ni, eyini,na those wonni,iwgnni Note.—The simple forms yi, ni, wgnyi, wgnni, are used with the nouns tbey quahfy, e.g., This man, gkgnrin yi; that book, iwe ni; these children, awgn gmgde wgnyi; those houses, ile wgnni. But when the nouns are not expressed, the forms with a vowel prefixed are used, e.g., This is not good, eyi ko dara ; this very one, eyiyi; these are not ripe, iwgnyi ko pgn ; those are very good, iwgnni dara jgjg. Na refers to something spoken of or understood. [c) Distributive :— each olukuluku, enikankan every enikan, or gbogbo either enikan neither ko si enikan Note.—The Yoruba use of the distributives is rather idiomatic. " Each " is olukuluku, but when used in the sense of " one by one " it is enikankan. For " every one " the Yoruba is gbogbo, i.e., all, e.g., it touches every one of us. (In Yoruba) It touches all of us, Gbogbo wa li o kan. "Either of them," is "one of them." Either of us may go, Okan ninu wa le lo. (d) Indefinite :— All Any Both .. Gbogbo .. eyikeyi .. mejeji One Other Another • • kan, §nikan ekeji elomiran Certain .. (eni) kan One another Each other }' ara won Few Many Much None .. die opolgpo, pupQ .. pup6, opo .. ko si enikain Several Some Such Whole •• pupo die (a few) bayi ototg, gbogbo The Yoruba language s very defective in distinctive terms expressive of the indefinite pronouns. One word must do service for different terms in which there is a shade of difference of meaning, e.g., Gbogbo is used for all, whole. PuPq or bpo for many, much, several. Enikan for certain, one. None is expressed by " there is no one." (e) Interrogative:— Who ? Tahani ? contracted to tani ? Whose ? Titahani ? contracted to titani ? Which ? Ewo ? wo ? Whom ? Tani ? eniti ? What ? Kini ? ' Note.—-The n in kini is often converted or rather softened into / in speech. What shall we do ? Kini awa yio se ? is softened into Ki r a o se ? Verbs Verbs are transitives and intransitives. There are no auxiliary verbs as known in the EngHsh and other languages ; certain particles are used to mark out the moods, tenses and other forms. for which auxiliary verbs are used, consequently the verb " to be " as an auxiliary is wanting. In. the English language there are six auxiliary verbs, viz., be, have, shall, will, may, do ; each of them may be used as the principal verb, and also as an auxiUary to other verbs when they help to form the moods and tenses ; but the particles that are used in Yoruba for such purposes are not verbs, and cannot be used as such, and therefore cannot be correctly termed auxiUary verbs as some compilers of Yoruba grammars have tried to make out. For example, the particle ti placed before a verb denotes a completed action, e.g., Ajayi ti lo, Ajayi has or had gone. The particle jyj'o in the same way points out a future tense,^.^., Ajayi yio lo, Ajayi will go. The nasal n prefixed to any verb shows an incomplete action as Ajayi rilo, Aja)^ is going. There being no auxiliary verbs as such, the Passive Voice cannot be formed in the usual way, the first or third person plural of the verb transitive is used for the passive voice, e.g., " A snake is killed " will be A pa ejo kan, or Won pa ejo kan. Or if we say " The snake was killed by Joseph " the Yoruba will be " A ti owo Yesufu pa ejo na, which is literally, " We by the hand of Joseph killed the snake," but usually the active transitive is preferred, viz., Yesufu U o pa ejo na, " It is Joseph that killed the snake." As was observed above, the majority of Yoruba verbs in their simplest form consist of monosyllables—a consonant and a vowel, e.g., ka, to pick, kd. to count, rd to buy, lo to go, wa to come, sun to sleep, etc. They are non-inflective and do not show any distinction in number or person. Disyllabic verbs are almost invariably compound words resolvable into their component parts ; they may be a verbal root compounded with a preposition, a noun or an adverb (some roots, however, have become obsolete), e.g., Bawi, to scold, from ba, with, and wi, talk. Dahun, to answer, from da, to utter, ohun, a voice. Dapo, to mingle, from da, to pour or mix, and Pq, together. Sunkun, to weep, from sun, to spring, and ekun, tears. Some are transitives, others intransitives. The noun or pronoun governed by the transitive verb is in- variably placed between the component parts, e.g., Bawi, to scold. O ba mi wi, He scolded me. Pade, to close. O pa ilekun de. He closed the door Here the mi is placed between the ha and the wi. It.is not O bawi mi for He scolded me, but 0 ha mi wi. So also ilekun is placed between pa and de, not O pade ilekun, but 0 pa ilekun de for He closed the door. Verbs compounded with a Preposition :— Bawi, to scold. O ba mi wi, He scolded me. Pade; to shut. Pa ilekun de, Close the door. Dimu, to take hold of. Di mi mu, Take hold of me. Dasi, to spare. Da won si, Spare them. Verbs compounded with an Adverb:— Baje, to spoil. Ba inu je, Grieve, " Spoil the mind." Dapo, to mingle. Da won po. Mix them together. Tuka, to scatter. Tu won ka, Scatter them. Daru, to confound. Da won ru, Confound them. Pamo, to keep. Pa mi mo, Keep or preserve me. In verbs compounded with a noun, the noun always has the preposition ni (softened into li) before it, e.g., Daju, evident, from da, clear, and oju, the eyes—clear to the eyes. 0 da mi I'oju. It is evident to me Tiju, to be ashamed, from ti to cover, oju, the eyes—covering the eyes. 0 ti mi I'oju. It shames me. Dahun, to answer, from da, to utter, ohun, a voice. Da mi I'ohun, Answer me. Jiya, to suffer, from je, to eat, iyk, punishment, 0 je mi ni iyd, He punished me. Gbowg, shake hands, from gba, take, owo, hand. 0 gbd mi I'owQ, He shook hands with me. Ranse, to send a message, from ran, send, ise, a message. Mo ran a ni i§e, I have sent him. The Intransitive verbs of this class are usually neuter verbs compounded with nouns of similar import and therefore do not admit of any nouns or pronouns being inserted into their com- ponent parts, e.g., Sunkun, to cry, from sun, to spring, shed, ekun, tears. Sorg, to talk, from so, to utter, org, a word. Kunle, to kneel, from kun, to fill. He, the ground. P^de, to meet, from pa, to keep, ade, a coming. Duro, to stand, Irom da, to keep, iro, upright. Moods and Tenses In the formation of Moods and Tenses certain particles are made use of. They may have been the roots of obsolete verbs, but they cannot now be used as verbs but as particles ; we there- fore refrain from applying the terms " defective " or " auxiliary verbs " to them. Such are the following:— Bi, ha or iha, implying if, should, or would, e.g. Bi o ba lo, if he should go. Oia iba lo, should he go Je or ki, or jski, implying permission, e.g., Je ki o \q or ki o lo, let him go. Lb, implying permission. O le lo, he may go. Md or Mase, implying prohibition (authoritative). Maha, impljdng permission (authoritative), e.g., Maha lo, be going Yio, often contracted to o, sign of the future, e.g., Yio lo, he will go. Emi o \o, I will go. Ati or ni ati, softened into lati, implying an intention, e.g., Ati lo, to go, Lati jeun, to eat (intending to). N or ng, sign of incomplete action, e.g., Emi filo, I am going. Ojo fir6, it is raining. Ti, a sign of the past tense, e.g., 0 ti lo, he has gone. From these particles the Moods and Tenses are formed. Moods The Indicative, Subjunctive, Potential, Imperative, Infinitive and the Participal Moods can be well expressed in Yoruba, and all but the first can be formed by the use of one or other of the above particles. The Indicative is the verb in its simplest form, e.g. lo, to go. Emi Ig, I went. Ojo sare, Ojo ran. The Subjunctive is formed by prefixing the conjunction hi (if) before the subject of the verb, with or without the particle ha, e.g., Bi emi lo or Bi emi ba Ig, If I were to go. Bi emi ba fe Ig, If I wish to go. The Potential is formed by adding the particle le before the verb, e.g., Emi \h Ig, I may go (lit. I am able to go). The Imperative is formed by the permissive sign J§ ki, e.g., Jg ki emi Ig, Let me go. [Besides the direct forms Ig (go thou) ; ^lg(goye).] The Infinitive is formed by adding the particles ati or lati before the verb, e.g., Ati lo, to go. Lati mo, to know. The Participle is formed by prefixing the particle ii (or ng) to the verb, e.g. nlo, going.; nbQ, coming. Tenses There are only three tenses in Yoruba, properly speaking, the preterite, the incomplete, and the future. An action just done is a completed action and is therefore past; one doing is incomplete, consequently what may be considered present may be merged in the completed action, and is therefore taken as preterite, or in the incomplete, as the sense may require. The simple verb is always expressed in the past indefinite or preterite tense, e.g., Mo lo, I went; Mo we, I washed. O rerin, he laughed or laughs ; 0 joko, he sat or sits. The complete tenses, past or present, are expressed by prefixing the particle ti before the preterite, e.g., Mo ti we, I have, or had washed. O ti lo, he has or had gone. The incomplete tense is formed by prefixing the particle ii (orng) to the verb, e.g., Emi nwe, I am washing. Emi iirerin, I am laughing. The future tense is formed by placing the particle jyj'o (contracted to o) before the verb, e.g., Emi yio we, I shall wash. Emi o lo, I shall go. Awa o maha yo. We shall be rejoicing. The future complete (or second future) tense is formed by adding the particles indicating the future and the complete tenses to the verb e.g., Emijyw ti we, I shall have washed. Emi o ti lo, I shall have gone. Adverbs Adverbs are used in the same way as in the English, to modify or hmit the meaning of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, and are generally placed after the words they qualify, e.g., 0 sorg daradara. He spoke well. 0 soro jojg. It is very difficult. After an intransitive verb, they come directly after the verb, as 0 sun fanfan. He slept soimdly. O sure tete. He ran swiftly. But after a transitive verb they come after the noun or pronoun in the objective case, e.g.. Mo mo Yesufu daju-daju, I know Joseph well. O le won sehin-sehin. He drove them far back. Adverbs of manner, quahty and degree are mostly formed by a reduplication of the word (especially an adverb or a verb), e.g., O sorg daradara. He spoke very well, O duro sinsin. He stood firmly. Dajudaju, evidently. Mo feran r^ gidigidi, I love him well. Adverbs of time, place and quantity are used in the same way as in the EngHsh, and call for no special remarks. We may note, however, that in these, words of more than one syllable not onomatopoetic in origin are capable of being resolved into their elementary parts—usually into a particle (a preposition) and a noun, e.g., Nigbagbogbo, always, can be resolved into ni (at), igba (time), gbogbo (all), i.e., at all times. Kigbose, when, can be resolved into ni (at or in), igba (time), ti (which), 0 se (it happened), i.e., at the time when it happened, i.e., when. Nihiyi, here, ni (at), ihin (here), yi (this), at this place. Loke, upwards, ni or li (at), oke (the top). Nibomiran, elsewhere, ni (at), ihi (place), omiran (another), at another place. But there is also a use of adverbs peculiar to the Yoruba lan- guage, an onomatopoetic idea is often connected with it, and consequently it is always formed to suit the word it qualifies, and thus intensify the idea conveyed by the word. A form that is applicable to one verb or adjective may not be appHcable to another, and therefore adverbs of degree or quality cannot be enumerated. For instance : The adverb gogoro can only apply to height, as o ga g6g6rd, It is very high. A reduplication of the word can further intensify the idea, O ga gogoro gogoro. It is very, very high. In the same way the word gbagada can only apply to something of a huge size, and a redupHcation of it, gbagada gbagada, intensifies the idea. Also the word repete or rapcita-rapata implies not only a large size, but also a massive one, one in which the space covered is much more than the height. Apart from intensifying the ideas, other quaUties can also be expressed by the character of the adverb made use of; in other words, the adverbs often suggest some other ideas inherent in the qualities they describe although they cannot be so expressed in Enghsh, e.g., we may say, 0 pon fo 6, It is bright red. Here the adverb fo 6, besides being aptly applying to what is red, also suggests the warmth of the colouring. So also O pon roro. It is deep red ; O p6n rokiroki, i.e., It is bright red, almost yellow. In the last two examples roro and rokiroki refer simply to the depth of the colouring.^ One or two more illustrations will develop the above ideas fully. In the matter of length, we may say O gim tunu tunu. It is very long. This can only apply to a long road, the idea of distance being imphed. O gvm gboro-gbgro. It is very long. This conveys an idea of a long pole, or a rope, or a serpent or the like. So also with respect to height, we may say, O ga.fio fio, It is very high. This can only apply to something on the top of a great height, or the top of a high object—as a tree, standing on the ground. O ga tian-tian, It is very high. This can only apply to an object at a great height, not connected with the ground, as a bird flying at a great height. In all these examples, the adverb very is used to qualify the adjectives in English, no other ideas being conveyed ; in this respect the Yoruba is more expressive. Prepositions Prepositions are particles placed before nouns or pronouns to show their relation to other words in the sentence. ^ See Vidal's Notes to Crowther's Yoruba Grammar. In Yoruba they are mostly monosyllables, e.g., si, ni, fun, de, etc., as : O lo si ile. He goes into the house. O wa ni oko. He is in the farm. O ko ile fun Baba, He has built a house for the father. Duro d^ mi, Wait for me. Words of more than one syllable when used as prepositions are capable of being resolved into their component parts, e.g., O nbo lehin mi, He is coming behind me. Here, the preposition lehin is resolvable into li (at) and ehin (the back). O wa leti ile. He is near the house ; leti is resolvable into li (at) and eti, the ear, or the edge that is within the hearing or at the edge of the house. Under Verbs we have already considered those pecuhar forms compounded with prepositions. Conjunctions Conjunctions are particles which serve to connect words or sentences ; they are copulative and disjunctive. Copulative. Ati, and or both. Ati Baba ati omo, Both father and son. The initial a may be omitted, e.g., Tiwo tir^ for ati iwo ati ixh (you and he). On, and or both. O lo t'ofi ti omo. He left both himself and child. It may be noted that on is never used to copulate pronouns of the ist and 2nd persons. Bi, if. Bi o je se omo. If he would be a child. (This is used for an obedient child). Nitori, because. Nitori t'emi. Because of me. Nje, then. Nje o yio lo ? Then will you go ? Disjunctive. Sugbgn, but. O de ile sugbon ko ba mi. He called but did not meet me at home. Tabi, or. Emi tabi iwg, I or you. Bikose, unless. Bikose pe o juba re, Unless he pays regard to him. Adi. although. Adi o ngbo gbogbo rh, Although he hears it all. Amgpe, idiomatic for be it known. Interjections Interjections are any form of exclamation or ejaculation ex- pressing some emotions of the mind. Any words may be used for the purpose, but very few convey any meaning apart from the tone in which they are expressed. Exclamations of surprise : Ye ! O ! pa ! emo ! hepk ! Exclamations of disgust: S6 ! Siyo ! It is rather curious that tribal peculiarities are marked in some forms of exclamations. Favourite expressions of Oyos : Ha ! Kinla ! Em ode ! Gbaga- dari ! Favourite expressions of Egbas and Ijebus : Here or herek^ 1 heparipk ! payentiwk ! The usual exclamation in law courts for " silence " is : Atoto ! lit, enough of your noise ! Kagbohun ! lit, let us hear the sound of a (single) voice. The tone of voice thrown into the exclamation in particular marks the expressions of grief, surprise, admiration or contempt. We close this portion with the exclamation usually addressed to kings—Kabiyesi ! May long life be added ! Numerals Numerals in Yoruba, although formed on a definite plan, yet are more or less compUcated ; the tone (or accent) plays an im- portant part in them. All numerals refer to some noun (person or thing) expressed or understood. They are Cardinal and Ordinal or Serial.. The Cardinal has three forms, viz.: (i) simple enumeration ; (2) numeral adjectives ; and (3) numismatics. To these may be added adverbs of number and of time. 1. Simple Enumeration I . Eni 22 . ... Ejilelogun 2 . u 23 . ... £talelogun 3 . £ta 24 . ... ferinlelogun 4 • 5 • 6rin Arun 25 . 26 . ... Edogbgn ... Jlrindilggbgn 6 . Efa 27 • ... Stadilogbgn 7 ■ Eje 28 . ... Ejidilggbgn 8 . Ejo 29 . ... Okandilggbgn 9 • ... Esan 30 . ... Ogbgn 10 . £wa 35 • ... Arundilogoji II . ... Okanla 40 . Oji 12 . £jila 45 . ... Arundiladgta 13 • £tala 50 . ... Adgta 14 . ... Erinla 55 . ... Arundilgggta 15 • £dogun 60 . ... Oggta 16 . ... £rindilogun 65 . ... Arundiladgrin 17 • ... fetadilogun 70 . ... Adgrin 18 . ... ]^jidilogun 75 . ... Arundilgggrin 19 . ... Okandilogun 80 . ... Oggrin 20 . Ogun 85 . ... Arundiladgrun 21 .. ... Okanlelogun 90 . ... Adorun Simple Enumeration—Continued. 95 -. ... Arundilogorun 4,000 ... .. Egbaji 100 ... ... Oggrun 5,000 ... .. Edegbata 200 ... ... Igba 6,000 ... .. Egbata 300 ... ... Odunrun 7,000 ... .. Edegbarin 400 ... ... Irinwo 8,000 ... .. Egbarin 500 ... ... Edegbeta 9,000 ... .. Edegbarun 600 ... ... Egbeta ro,ooo ... .. Egbarun 700 ... ... Edegberin 20,000 ... ., Egbawa or 800 ... ... Egberin Oke kan i.e '. one bag (of 900 ... ... Edegberun cowries). 1,000 ... ... Egberun Higher num bers as 40,000, 2,000 ... ... Egb^wa 60,000, etc. being so many bags. 3,000 ... ... Egbedogun 2. Quantitative or Numeral Adjectives One Okan Twenty-nine . .. Mgkandilggbgn Two Meji Thirty ... Ogbgn Three ... Meta Thirty-five .. Marun dilogoji Four Merin Forty ... Oji Five Marun Forty-five .. Marundiladgta Six Mefa Fifty ... Adgta Seven ... Meje Fifty-five . Marundilogota Eight ... Mej g Sixty ' Ota Nine Mesan Sixty-five , Marundiladgrin Ten Mewa " Seventy... ... Adgrin Eleven ... Mgkanla Seventy-five .. Marundilgggrin Twelve ... Mejila Eighty ... ... Oggrin Thirteen Metala Eighty-five ,. Marundiladgrun Fourteen ... Merinla Ninety ... Adgrun Fifteen ... Medogun Ninety-five ..Marundilgggrun Sixteen ... Merindilogun One hundred . Orun Seventeen Metadilogun One hundred an d ten ... Adgla Eighteen Mejidilogun >> i> i> twenty Qggfa Nineteen ... Mgkandilogun II 1) >> thirty Adoje Twenty Ogun II .. II forty Ogoje Twenty-one ... Mekanlelogun II II .. fifty Adgjo Twenty-two Mejilelogun >> II II sixty Qggjg Twenty-three Metalelogun II II II seventy Adgsan Twenty-four Meiinlelogun II II II eighty Oggsan Twenty-five Medggbgn II II II ninety Twenty-six ... Merindilggbgn Mewadinigba Twenty-seven ... RIetadilggbgn Two hundred . Igba Twenty-eight Mejidilggbgn etc., etc. 3. Numis matics One cowry 06kani Three cowries .. Eeta Two cowries Eejii Four E erin 1 Lit., one money, two monies; cowry shells being used for money. N UMISM ATics—Continued Five cowries ... ... A arun Six ,, E eik Seven ,, ... ... E eje Eight ,, E ejo Nine ,, ... ... Eesan Ten ,Eewa Eleven ,, ... ...0-6kanla Twelve ,, ... ... E-ejila Thirteen ,, ... ... Eetala Fourteen ,, ... ... Eerinla Fifteen ,, Eedogun Sixteen ,, ... Eerindilogun Seventeen cowries Egtadilogun Eighteen ,, Eejidilogun Nineteen ,, Ookandilogun Twenty ,, ... Ok6wo Twenty-five ,, Eedogbon Thirty ,, Ogbonwo Forty ,, ... Ogoji Fifty ,, ... A-adota Sixty ,, ... Qgota Seventy ,, A-adorin Eighty ,, ... Qgorin Ninety ,, A-adgrun One hundred ,, ... Ogorun no cowries ... ... A-adofa 120 ,, Qgofa 130 ,, ... ... A-adoje 140 ,, ... ... Ogoje 150 ,, ... ... A-adojo 160 ,, Qg6jg 170 ,, ... A-adosan 180 ,, ... ... Ogosan 190 ,, ... Ewadinigba 200 ,, ... ... Igbiwo 210 ,, ... Ewalerugba 220 ,, ... Ogunlugba 230 ,, Ogbonwolerugba 240 ,, ... - Ojulugba 250 ,, A-adotalerugba 260 ,, ... Otalugba 270 ,, A-adorinlerugba 280 ,, ... Orinlugba 290 ,, A-adorunlerugba 300 ,, ... Odunrun 400 ,, ... ... Irinwo 500 cowries ... E-edegbfeta 600 ,Egb^ta 700 E-edegberin 800 Egb^rin 900 E-edegberun 1,000 Egb^run 1,200 'Egb^fa 1,300 E-edegbeje 1,400 Egbeje 1,500 E-edegb^jg 1,600 ... Egb^jg 1,700 E-edegb^san 1,800 Egbesan 1,900 ,, Egbadin-gggrun 2,000 ,, Egbkwa 2,200 Egbokanla 2,400 „ Eg'b^jila 2,500 ,, Egb^taladin-gggrun 2,600 Egbetala 2,800 Egb^rinla 3,000 Egbeedogun 3.500 ... Egbejidilogun- din-gggrun 3,600 ... Egbejidinlogun 4,000 Egbaji 4.500 ... Egbetalelogun- din-gggrun 5,000 5gbedggbgn 5.500 ...Egbetalelggbgn- din-gggrun 6,000 Egbata 7,000 Edegbarin 8,000 Egbarin 9,000 Edegbarun 10,000 Egbarun 15,000 Edegbajg 16,000 Egbajg 18,000 Egbasan 20,000 Egbawa (Oke kan) 30,000 E-edogun 32,000 Erindilogun 34,000 Etkdilogun 36,000 Ejidilogun 38,000 ,, ... Ok&ndilogun 40,000 ,, Egbagun (Oke meji) The Ordinal The first ,, second „ third ,, fourth „ fifth ,, sixth ,, seventh ,, eighth „ ninth ,, tenth ,, eleventh ,, twelfth ,, thirteenth ,, fourteenth ,, fifteenth .., ,, sixteenth ... ,, seventeenth ,, eighteenth ,, nineteenth ,, twentieth .. ,, twenty-first ,, twenty-fifth Ekini Ekeji Eketa Ekerin Ekarun Ekefa Ekeje Ekejo Ekesan Ekewa Ikokanla Ikejila Iketala Ikerinla Ikedogun Ikerindilogun Iketadilogun Ikejidilogun Ikokandilogun Ogun Ikgkanlelogun Ikedogbon The thirtieth Qgbon ,, thirty-fifth Ikarundilogoji ,, fortieth ... ... Oji ,, forty-fifth ... Ikarundiladota ,, fiftieth Adota ,, fifty-fifth ... Ikarundilogota ,, sixtieth ... ... Qgota ,, sixty-fifth Ikarundiladorin ,, seventieth ... Adorin ,, seventy-fifth Ikarundilogorin ,, eightieth ... ... Ogorin „ eighty-fifth Ikarundiladorun ,, ninetieth ... ... Adorun ,, ninety-fifth Ikarundilggorun ,, hundredth ... Ogorun ,, hundred and first... Ikokan- lelogorun From the first to the ninth— Ikokanle to Ikokandin—the tenths merge into those of simple enumeration. Adverbs of Number One by one ... Two by two ... Three by three Four by four Five by five ... Six by six Seven by seven Eight by eight Nine by nine Ten by ten ... Continue to numerals up nineteen then— Twenty by twenty Thirty by thirty Forty by forty Fifty by fifty Once Twice Thrice Okankan ... Meji-meji Meta-meta Merin-merin Marun-marun ... Mefa-mefa ... Meje-meje ... Mejo-mejg Mesan-mesan Mewa-mewa reduplicate the to nineteen by Ogo-gun Ogbggbon " Ogogoji Aradgta Adverbs Erinkan Erin meji Erin-m §ta Sixty by sixty ... Oggggta Seventy by seventy... Aradgrin Eighty by eighty ... Oggggrin Ninety by ninety ... Aradgrun Hundred by hundred Oggggrun Thus from one to nineteen the numbers are reduplicated, also from 21-29 '< 31-39 ; 41-49 J ^iid so on, but for 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 100 only the reduplication of the first two letters takes place, e.g., Ogogun, Ogbggbgn ; for 50, 70, 90, the same occurs only the euphonic " r " takes the place of " d " e.g., Aradgta for Adgdgta ; Aradorun for Adodorun. OF Time Four times Five Six . Erin-m erin Erin-marun . grin-mefa Adverbs of Time—Continued Seven times ... Erin-meje Seventy times Igba-adorin Eight .. ... Erin-mejo Eighty „ Igba-ogorin Nine ,, Erin-mesan Ninety „ Igba-adgrun Ten Erin-mewa Hundred ,, Igba-ogorun The same to nineteen times. Thus " Erin " is prefixed to all Twenty times Igba-ogun the numerals, but the multiples Thirty Igba-ogbgn of ten take " Igba " before them. Forty „ Igba-ogoji Note.—' Erin " is usually Fifty Igba-adota softened to ee, e.g., ^|kan, ^gmeji Sixty Igba-ggota and so forth. Analysis of the Numerals From one to ten, different terms are used, then for 20, 30, 200 and 400 ; the rest are multiples and compounds. Thus 11, 12, 13 and 14 are reckoned as ten plus one, plus two, plus three and plus four ; 15 to 20 are reckoned as 20 less five, less four, less three, less two, less one, and then 20. In the same way we continue 20 and one, to 20 and four, and then 30 less five (25), less four, and so on to 30, and so for all figures reckoned by tens. There is no doubt that the digits form the basis of enumeration to a large extent, if not entirely so. Five, ten, twenty, i.e., the digits of one hand, of two, and the toes included, and their multiples form the different stages of enumeration. Beginning from the first multiple of 20 we have ogoji, a contrac- tion of ogun meji, i.e. two twenties (40), Ogota, three twenties (60), Ogorin, four twenties (80), Ogorun, five twenties (100), and so on to ten twenties (200), when the new word Igba is used. The intermediate numbers (30 having a distinct terminology), 50, 70, 90, no, 130 to 190 are reckoned as : 60 less ten (50), 80 less ten (70), a hundred less ten (90), and so on to 200. The figures from 200 to 2,000 are reckoned as multiples of 200 (400, however, which is 20 X 20, the square of all the digits, has a distinct terminology, Irinwo or Erinwo, i.e., the elephant of figures—meaning the highest coined word in calculation, the rest being multiples). Thus we have Egbeta, a contraction of Igba-meta, i.e., three two-hundreds (600), Egberin, from Igba-merin, four two-hundreds (800), Egberin, five two-hundreds (1,000), and so on to Egbiwa, ten two-hundreds (2,000), which in its turn forms the basis of still higher calculations. The intermediate figmres 6i 300, 500, 700, 900, 1,100 to 1,900 are reckoned as 100 less the multiple above them, viz., Odunrun, contracted from Orun-din-ni-irinwo, i.e., loo less than 400 (300), Orun-din-ni-egbeta, 100 less than 600 (500), Orun-din-ni-egberin, 100 less than 800 (700) ; and so on to 2,000. By a system of contraction, ehsion, and euphonic assimilation, for which the Yoruba language is characteristic, the long term Oriin-din-ni (Egbeta or Egberin and so on) is contracted to Ed^ or Od6, e.g., Edegbeta (500), Edegberin (700), Edegberun (900) and so on. But the multiples of 200 do not end with ten times, although that figure is the basis of the higher calculations, it goes on to the perfection (or multiple) of the digits, viz. : twenty times (two hundred) ; thus we have Egbgk^nla, that is, Igba mokinla, II two-hundreds (2,200) ; Egbejila, twelve two-hundreds (2,400), and so on to twenty two-hundreds or Egbaji, that is, twice two thousand (4,000). With this ends the multiples of 200. The intermediate figures of 2,300, 2,500, 2,700, 2,900 are reckoned the same way as before, viz. : 100 less than the next higher multiple. As already mentioned, Egbawa (or Egba), 2,000, forms the basis of still higher calculations ; the multiples of Egba are Egbaji, two two-thousands (4,000) ; Egbata, three two-thousands (6,000) ; Egbarin, four two-thousands (8,000) on to Egbawa, ten two- thousands (20,000), which in its turn forms the basis of the highest calculations. The intermediate figures of 3,000, 5,000, 7,000, 9,000, 11,000 onwards are reckoned as 1,000 less than the multiple above them. The more familiar terms for 3,000 and 5,000, however, are Egbe dogun, or fifteen two-hundreds, and Egbedogbon, 25 two-hundreds. For those figures beyond 20,000 the contracted forms which are generally used are : Okanla (for Egbamgkanla) 11 two-thousands ; £jila, Etkla on to Egbagim, i.e., 20 two-thousands, i.e., forty thousand. Summary.—Thus we see that with numbers that go by tens five is used as the intermediate figure—five less than the next higher stage. In those by 20, ten is used as the intermediate. In those by 200, 100 is used, and in those of 2,000, 1,000 is used. The figure that is made use of for calculating indefinite numbers is 20,000 Egbawa, and in money calculation especially it is termed Oke kan, i.e., one bag (of cowries). Large numbers to an indefinite amount are so many " bags " or rather " bags " in so many places.