Yorùbá Language Lessons

Yorùbá Pronunciation

This lesson will help you read and pronounce unfamiliar writing and sounds. Follow each word’s hyperlink to hear it pronounced by a native speaker in Agoke’s dictionary. Note: I have linked the English word before each Yorùbá word, so that the hyperlink underline does not interfere with the visibility of diacriticals in Yorùbá words.

New letters

Ẹ

• Practice the contrast between E and Ẹ (x 10)
• Practice the contrast between eyín and ẹ̀yin (x 20)

Ṣ

• Practice the contrast between S and Ṣ (x 10)
• Practice the contrast between ṣe and sí (x 20)

Ọ

• Practice the contrast between O and Ọ (x 10)
• Practice the contrast between otútù and ọ̀tún (x 20)

Tones

Let’s use those same words to practice Yorùbá tones.

• Practice the contrast between the mid-tone and the high tone:
  eyín (x 20)
• Practice the contrast between the low tone and the mid-tone:
  ẹ̀yin (x 20)
• Practice the contrast between the mid-tone and the high tone:
  ṣe, sí (x 20)
• Practice the contrast between the low tone and the high tone:
  ọ̀tún (x 20)
• Practice the contrast between the mid-tone, high tone, and low tone:
  otútù (x 20)

New consonants

• Gb (pronounced ɡ͡b)
  • Practice this sound between vowels:
    ẹ̀gbọ́n (x 20)
  • Practice this sound at the start of a word:
    gbogbo (x 20)
• P (pronounced k͡p)
  • Practice this sound between vowels:
    òpin-ọ̀sẹ̀ (x 20)
  • Practice this sound at the start of a word:
    pẹ̀lú (x 20)

Agoke, A. (2024). Yorùbá dictionary: For foreign and second language learners. Pressbooks. https://wisc.pb.unizin.org/Yorùbádictionary/

Discontinuous Verbs

Yorùbá features several split verbs that can catch learners off guard. Often the object of a clause will go between two discontinuous verbs. These verbs may convey two different actions, as in the following examples from Schleicher (p. 19):

• Òjó ra búrẹ́dì jẹ – to buy and eat something
  Òjó bought some bread and ate it.
• Àìná gbé ọmọ rẹ̀ lọ sí ilé-ìwé – to lift something heavy and go
  Àìná lifted her child and went.

They may also form what translates to a single verb in English, as in the following examples from Schleicher (p. 18):

• Mo máa mú oúnjẹ wá – to bring
  I’ll bring some food
• N kò ní í gbé ọmọ rẹ̀ wá – to bring
  I will not bring his child

Try it out! Write five sentences using verbs from each of these variations.

Schleicher, A. Y. F. (1998). Jẹ́ k’á ka Yorùbá. Yale University Press.