Yoruba
Yoruba belongs to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family of Languages, and
it is tonal. It is the first language of approximately 30 million West Africans,
spoken by populations in Southwestern Nigeria, Togo, Benin, and Sierra Leone..
Archaeological evidence suggests that the ancestors of the Yoruba may have lived
in this same general area of Africa since prehistoric times. Until relatively
recently, however, they did not consider themselves a single people, but rather
as citizens of Oyo, Benin, Yagba and other cities, regions or kingdoms. The
old Yoruba kingdom of Oyo was traditionally one of the largest states of West
Africa and dominated both Benin and Dahomey, but after 1700 its power slowly
waned and at the beginning of the 19th century, slave wars launched by the kingdom
of Dahomey against some of the Yoruba kingdoms, and slave wars between the Yoruba
themselves, resulted in millions of Yoruba being shipped off to slavery in the
New World (a large percentage of the slaves exported from Africa were Yoruba)
In a number of these places,Yourba language and traditions still survive. In
Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, and Trinidad, Yoruba religious rites, beliefs, music and
myths are evident to this day, and a variety of Yourba known as Lukumi is still
spoken in Cuba. Yoruba has certain regional dialects but a generally accepted
"Standard Yoruba" is being taught in schools and is found in books.
There are two slightly different forms of Standard Yoruba; one that corresponds
to the Oyo province and the other is associated with the city of Lagos.
Sources:
Encyclopedia.com
Indiana University
Rosettaproject
University of Wisconsin
Church of the Lukumi
Yoruba History
Independent Study Courses Available at UCSD:
Other Local Resources: