PHONOLOGY IN YORUBA LANGUAGE

 PHONOLOGY IN YORUBA LANGUAGE

The study of Yoruba phonetics allows easy pronunciation of Yoruba Alphabets or words. Every human language has its own large sets of vocal sign called “words”. These words results from highly structured combinations of segments likened to the letters of an alphabet. There are three sets of sounds which make up Yoruba words, they are:

·        Vowels

·        Consonants

·        Tones

Yoruba Vowels

Yoruba has seven oral vowels. These seven vowels are contrastive in the sense that switching one of the vowels for the other leads to a change in the meaning of the word. The seven oral vowels with its International Phonetic Alphabets (IPA) are as follows:

Vowels	Phonetic signs	Example
a	[a:]	Ka
e	[ei:]	Ke
ẹ	[ε:]	kẹ
i	[ i ]	ki
o	[oʊ]	ko
ọ	[ɔ:]	kọ
u	[u:]	ku

Yoruba Consonants

Consonant sounds are sounds produced by having a partial or complete obstruction in vocal tract. Yoruba has eighteen basic consonants which are listed in the chart below:

Consonants	Phonetic signs	Samples
B	[b]	Ba
D	[d]	Da
F	[f]	Fọ
G	[g]	Ge
GB	[gb]	GBe
H	[h]	Ha
J	[j]	Jẹ
K	[k]	Ke
L	[l]	Lẹ
M	[m]	Mu
N	[n]	Ni
P	[kp]	Pẹ
R	[r]	Ro
S	[s]	Sẹ
Ṣ	[sh]	Ṣe
T	[t]	Ta
W	[w]	Wẹ
Y	[‘je]	Ye

Therefore, the Yoruba alphabet consists of 25 letters, which comprises of Eighteen Consonants and Seven vowels. The following list provides the Yoruba Alphabets and words that help with the understanding of the sound.

Yoruba Tones

Note: This is where beginners miss it, getting fed up and frustrated thinking there is need to master all tones, thereby give up learning. Instead of stressing over mastering the tones, skip over this topic as a beginner and simply listen to word as you hear them from people or the media then try your best by repeating them melodically. This is how most languages are being learnt. Babies don’t learn English language accent by mastering a book but become familiar with the accent as they hear them, Children in Yoruba land also do not start speaking by learning the tones; they perfect the tonal aspect as they grow in speaking the language. Do not get bothered about the tones and just move with the flow.

Tonal signs are important in Yoruba language as it makes it easy to read Yoruba because a word may have numerous meanings according to the way it sounds which are distinguished by sounds sign.

The tonal language has three tones: L(ow) known as Dò, M(id) known as Re and H(igh) known as Mí which are generally marked on vowels and so rarely on nasal consonants.

·       For a Low tone, vowels are marked a backslash     

       [à  è  ẹ̀  ì  ò  ọ̀  ù]

·       For a Mid tone, vowels are not marked 

       [a  e  ẹ  i  o  ọ  u]

·       For a High tone, vowels are marked forward slash

       [á  é  ẹ́  í  ó  ọ́  ú] 

The following illustrate the distribution of tones in words of one syllable with same vowel and consonants; the only difference is that they are of different tones

Low tones Dò or L	Mid tones Re or M	High tones Mí or H
rà (rotten)	ra (buy)	rá (disappear)
rè (going)	re (fall)	ré (a bit from)
rẹ̀ (tired)	rẹ (cut)	rẹ́ (soak)
rì (sink)	ri (see)	rí (burry)
rò (stir)	ro (erect)	ró (think)
rọ̀ (rain)	rọ (wilt)	rọ́(bend)
rù (lean)	ru (headcarry)	rú(appear)

Igbá (Re Mí ) :  Calabash Ìgbà (Dò Dò)  : Time         Igba (Mí Mí) : 200  Igbá (Re Mí): Garden egg	Ọwọ́ (Re Mí ) : Hand Ọ̀wọ̀ (Dò Dò) : Respect Ọwọ̀ (Re Dò) : Broom Ọ̀wọ̀ (Dò Dò) : Ondo town
Ìlú (Dò Mí) : Town Ìlù (Dò Dò) : Drum Ilu (Re Re) : Opener	Àwo (Dò Re) : Plate Awó (Re Mí) : Fowl Awo(Re Re) : Secrete
Owó(Re Mí): Money Òwò(Dò Dò) : Trade	Ìwo (Dò Re) : Horn Ìwó (Dò Mí) : Ọsun town
Pako(Re Re):Plank Pákò(Mí Dò): chewing stick	Bàtà (Dò Dò): footwear Bàtá: Drum type
Àlà(Dò Dò): Boundary Àlá(Dò Mí): Dream