i is a high front vowel that sounds like a cross between the English word “eat” and the pronunciation of the letter “i” in words such as “silver” or “children. " e is a high mid-front vowel somewhat like “fate,” but more like the vowel sounds in the French word “été. " ẹ is low mid-front vowel similar to the vowel sound in the English word “set. " a is a low middle vowel similar to the vowel sound in the English word “not. " ọ is a low mid-back vowel similar to the vowel sound in the English word “loss. " o is a mid-back vowel similar to the vowel sound in the English word “soak. " u is a high back vowel similar to the vowel sound in the English word “toot. "
The nasalized i is similar to the vowel sound in the English word “pinch. " The nasalized ẹ is similar to the vowel sound in the English word “bench. " The nasalized a and ọ are both similar to the vowel sound in the British pronunciation of the word “aunt,” or the English word “launch. " The nasalized u is similar to the vowel sound in the English contraction “won’t. "
The letters b, d, g, t, k, and f sound virtually identical to the same letters in English. Just keep in mind that a g in Yoruba is always pronounced like the g in the English word “go,” never like the g in “gem. " The letters w and y also sound like the same letters in English when before an oral vowel. They are nasalized if they come before a nasal vowel. The letters j and h are similar to the same letters in English, but are less strongly pronounced.
The Yoruba s sound is higher in pitch than the s sound in English. Think of hissing like a snake, with the tip of your tongue at the roof of your mouth just behind your front teeth. In some dialects, these two letters sound virtually the same. When listening to native speakers, take note of their dialect or where in Africa they learned to speak the language.
An n before a vowel sounds similar to the ng in the English word “song. "
European languages would tap the tip of the tongue on the way up, at the beginning of the pronunciation. In Yoruba, however, you want to start with the tip of your tongue on the gum ridge behind your front teeth, and tap on the way down.
Divide the words after the first vowel, so that you’re saying “bi-gboy” instead. Keep practicing until you can make the sound smoothly. It can be helpful to practice with a native speaker, who can let you know if you’re pronouncing the sounds correctly or give you tips on how to improve.
For example, the word “ọkọ” means “husband. " Add a high tone to the second syllable and the word means “hoe. " A low tone over the vowels in both syllables changes the meaning to “spear. " A single low tone in the second syllable changes the meaning to “vehicle. " A high tone cannot occur in the first syllable of a word. Although there is a diacritical symbol to represent it, middle tones typically aren’t marked.
For example, “Olú ra aga” means “Olu bought a chair. " A literal translation would be “Olu buy chair. "
The verb form in Yoruba does not change to reflect whether the subject is singular or plural. Similarly, nouns do not change form to reflect plurality. For example, the sentence “Olú ra ì̀wé méjì ní Ìbàdàn” means “Olu bought two books at Ibadan,” but a literal translation would be “Olu buy book two at Ibadan. " There are 2 “tenses” in Yoruba – future and non-future. However, the verb form never changes to reflect a different tense. The tense meant by the speaker is understood from the context of the conversation.
For example, if you wanted to ask “Did Olu come?” in Yoruba, you could say either “Ṣé Olú wá” or “Olú wá bí. " The French interrogative construction of making a statement followed by the word “non?” is similar to the Yoruba interrogative construction.
Listening to native speakers of Yoruba can also help you hear tonality and perfect your pronunciation. Simply mimic the way you hear the native speakers pronouncing the words. Since you can put music on in the background while you’re doing other things, you can learn Yoruba without much effort or concentration.
Ẹ n lẹ! is a general greeting that means “hello!” To follow up by asking “How are you?” you would say “Ṣe daadaa ni o wa?” The reply to this question is “Mo wa daadaa, o ̣se. Iwọ naa n kọ?” This reply essentially means “I’m fine, and you?” “Please” in Yoruba is “jọwọ,” and thank you is “o se. " Good manners will take you a long way when learning a language. If someone thanks you, respond “ko to ọpẹ,” which means something like “you’re welcome” or “no problem. " Say “Oni a dara o” if you want to tell someone to “have a nice day” in Yoruba.
Reading about current events with which you’re already familiar can help expand your vocabulary. Brief videos give you the opportunity to watch and listen to native speakers of Yoruba, which can help improve your comprehension and pronunciation.
Go to http://fieldsupport. dliflc. edu/products/yoruba/yq_co/default. html to start the program. After you’ve gone through the various chapters, you can test your knowledge with assessment quizzes and tools.
The courses are a bit dated, so some of the phrases you learn may not be reflective of the language as currently spoken. However, the courses provide good pronunciation and tonality drills, and with the included audio files you can listen to Yoruba spoken by native speakers. The University of Texas at Austin also has a free multimedia Yoruba textbook available at http://www. coerll. utexas. edu/yemi/.
