PRELIMINARY CONCEPTS

This module will deal with elementary topics that will lead us to the next module. Most learners are expected to have known these; therefore, these should serve as a revision. If you are familiar with these lessons, you can proceed to the next module, TONES & TONE MARKS .
Letters
They are graphical symbols used to represent the sounds of a language. They are used in writing.
The collection of letters in the proper order is known as the alphabets.

The Yorùbá Alphabets are:
Aa, Bb, Dd, Ee, Ẹẹ, Ff, Gg, Gb gb, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Ọọ, Pp, Rr, Ss, Ṣṣ, Tt, Uu, Ww, Yy.

NOTE:
  1. They are 25 in number.
  2. They are not exactly like that of the English language.
    • Gb, Ẹ, Ọ, Ṣ are absent in the English Alphabets.
    • C, Q, V, X and Z are absent in Yoruba Language.
  3. Gb is a single letter represented with two graphical symbols. It is always treated as one letter anywhere it appears.
  4. The Yoruba Alphabets has 3 letters with a subdot under (Ẹ, Ọ, Ṣ). These letters are normal, like any other letter and differ from their counterparts without dots under.

VOWELS
They are divided into two.
  1. Oral Vowels (Fáwẹ́lì Àìránmúpè)
    • They are 7 in number.
    • They are A, E, Ẹ, I, O, Ọ, U.

  2. Nasal Vowels (Fáwẹ́lì Àránmúpè)
    • They are 5 in number.
    • They are an, ẹn, in, ọn, un.
    • They do not appear in the Yoruba alphabets, but appear in words and they have their equivalent sounds i.e. /ã/, /ɛ̃/, /ĩ/, /ɔ̃/, /ũ/
CONSONANTS
They are 18 in number.
They are B, D, F, G, Gb, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S, Ṣ, T, W, Y
Sounds


They are used in speaking. They are produced by the complementary effort of different organs such as lungs, vocal cords, nasal passages, tongue, teeth, palate, lips etc. They can also be represented graphically with symbols. The symbols used to represent sounds are slightly different from letters. Letters and sounds in Yoruba are highly related in that Yoruba words are written as they are pronounced. Like in English, we have both vowel sounds and consonant sounds.

VOWEL SOUNDS
They are produced by relatively free passage of air through the larynx and oral cavity. They are 12 in number (7 oral vowels, 5 nasal vowels) There are no diphthongs and triphthongs in Yoruba language.
  1. Oral Vowels sounds (Fáwẹ́lì Àìránmúpè)
    • They are produced by a free flow of air through the mouth only.
    • They are 7 in number.
    • They are /a/, /e/, /ɛ/, /i/, /o/, /ɔ/, /u/.
  2. Nasal vowel sounds (Fáwẹ́lì Àránmúpè)
    • They are produced by a free flow of air through the mouth and nose.
    • They are 5 in number.
    • They are /ã/, /ɛ̃/, /ĩ/, /ɔ̃/, /ũ/


    CONSONANTS SOUNDS
    They are produced when there is an obstruction to the free flow of air through the mouth.
    They are 18 in number.
    They are /b/, /d/, /f/, /g/, /ɡ͡b/, /h/, /j/, /k/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /k͡p/, /r/, /s/, /ʃ/, /t/, /w/, /ɟ/

    NOTE: There are no consonant clusters in Yoruba language (consonant never follow each other in a Yoruba Word.). Therefore;
    • The sound / ʃ / is written as ‘ṣ' in words and not as 'sh'
    • ‘Gb’ is a single letter represented with two graphical symbols.
Syllables


A syllable is a part of a word or a whole word which is said with one breath or pulse. It is essential to explain syllable because each syllable carries at least a tone (a syllable with a long vowel can have two tones). The ability to recognise syllables will help in the placement of tone marks. Syllables in Yorùbá is easy to learn.

INDICATING SYLLABLES
Generally, to indicate the syllables in a Yoruba Word, an hyphen (-) is used to break one syllable from the next.
E.g. ‘Yorùbá’ is written as Yo-rù-bá to indicate its syllables. Therefore, it has 3 syllables.

TYPES OF SYLLABLES
We have 3 types of syllables.

  1. The Consonant-Vowel combination (CV)
    2. Example
    WORD TRANSLATION SYLLABLE INDICATION ANALYSIS OF SYLLABLES
    Ẹ̀ṣọ́ guard Ẹ̀-ṣọ́ V-CV (2)


  2. The Vowel only syllable (V)
    3. It usually occurs as the first letter in a noun.
    Example
    WORD TRANSLATION SYLLABLE INDICATION ANALYSIS OF SYLLABLES
    Alárinà Match-maker A-lá-ri-nà V-CV-CV-CV (4)
    NOTE: The last syllable in the word above is CV not NV, because ‘n’ in that word is a ‘proper’ consonant, not a syllabic consonant.

  3. The Syllabic consonant (N)
    4. It usually occurs as the first letter in a noun.
    Example
    WORD TRANSLATION SYLLABLE INDICATION ANALYSIS OF SYLLABLES
    À-ǹ-fà-ní Advantage À-ǹ-fà-ní V-N-CV-CV (4)
    NOTE: You can choose to not put the tone mark on ‘n’ in the word above.



In the sentence, “n ò lọ (I didn't go)”, we see examples of the three syllable types:
WORD TRANSLATION SOUND SYLLABLE TYPE
n I [ŋ] N
ò not (negation) [ò] V
lọ to go [lɔ̄] CV


NOTE:
  1. There is no VC combination. Vowel can never come before consonant in the same syllable. If a vowel comes before a consonant, they are not in the same syllable.
  2. All Yoruba word end with a vowel
Practice 1 (Syllables)
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