Learn YORUBA

Learn to speak YORUBA:

Yorùbá is a Niger-Congo language related to Igala, Edo, Ishan, and Igbo amongst others. It is one of the principal languages of Nigeria and spoken in a couple of countries in the West African coast. An estimated 20+ million people speak Yorùbá as their first language in south western Nigeria and more in the Republics of Benin and Togo. Yorùbá is also spoken by diaspora communities of traders in Cote d'Ivore, Ghana, Senegal and the Gambia, and it used to be a vibrant language in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Outside West Africa, millions of people have Yorùbá language and culture as part of their heritage; Yorùbá religion being one of the means of survival in Cuba during the obnoxious slave trade. Many who did not have Yorùbá as their heritage bought into Yorùbá identity through religious conversion. Yorùbá language, culture and religion survived since then until now in Brazil and several other New World countries. A mixture of the old and new decendants of the Yorùbá now live in North America, the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. Yorùbá is one of the most extensively researched of all sub-Saharan languages and cultures, and has a long tradition of oral verbal production (oral literature) within indigenous cosmopolitan which is receptive of both Islamic and Christian cultures. Yorùbá is one of the many African languages that one is sure to hear people speak in the buses and the underground trains in several parts of London; a BBC reporter has compared Rye Lane in Peckham, South East London, to a mini-Lagos, where one can hear several people speaking loudly in Yorùbá as they go about their shopping. Like many other African languages, Yorùbá is tonal.

Useful phrases in Yoruba (English sentences followed by Yoruba translation):

Welcome   Ẹ ku abọ
Hello (General greeting)   Ẹ n lẹ
How are you?   Ṣe daadaa ni o wa?
Reply to 'How are you?'   Mo wa daadaa, o ̣se. Iwọ naa n kọ?
Long time no see   O to ọjọ mẹta o OR O pẹ ti a ri ara wa o
What's your name?   Ki ni orukọ rẹ?
My name is ...   Orukọ mi ni……
Where are you from?   Nibo ni o ti wa?
I'm from ...   Mo wa lati ...
Pleased to meet you   Inu mi dun lati mọ ọ
Good morning (Morning greeting)   Ẹ ku aarọ
Good afternoon (Afternoon greeting)   Ẹ ku ọsan
Good evening (Evening greeting)   Ẹ ku alẹ
Good night   O da aarọ
Goodbye (Parting phrases)   O da abọ
Good luck   Yoo dara o OR Yoo bọ si o
Cheers! Good Health! (Toasts used when drinking)   Ayọ ni o, Kara o le
Have a nice day   Oni a dara o
Bon appetit / Have a nice meal   Ounjẹ ajẹye o OR Yoo gba ibi re
Bon voyage / Have a good journey   O da abọ OR Ka sọ layọ o
I understand   O ye mi
I don't understand   Ko ye emi
Yes   Bẹẹ ni
No   Bẹẹ kọ OR Ó ti Ra ra
Maybe   Boya
I don't know   N ko mo
Please speak more slowly   Jọwọ, rọra maa sọrọ
Please say that again   Jọwọ, tun un sọ
Please write it down   Jọwọ, kọ ọ silẹ
Do you speak English?   Ṣe o le sọ èdè oyinbo?
Do you speak Yoruba?   Ṣe o n sọ Yorùbá?
Yes, a little (reply to 'Do you speak ...?')   Bẹẹ ni, diẹ
How do you say ... in Yoruba?   Bawo ni o se le sọ …... ni Yorùbá?
Excuse me   Ẹ ̣se fun mi OR Ẹ jọwọ, ẹ gbọ mi
How much is this?   Eelo ni eyi?
Sorry   Pẹlẹ
Thank you   O ̣se OR E se
Reply to thank you   Ko to ọpẹ
Where's the toilet?   Nibo ni ile igbọnsẹ wa?
This gentleman will pay for everything   Alagba yii yoo sanwo fun gbogbo rẹ
This lady will pay for everything   Iyaafin yii yoo sanwo fun gbogbo rẹ
Would you like to dance with me?   Ṣe iwọ maa ba mi jo?
I miss you   Aro re so mi
I love you   Mo nifẹẹ rẹ
Get well soon   Da ara ya o
Leave me alone!   Fi mi silẹ
Help!   Ẹ gba mi o!
Fire!   Ina o!
Stop!   Duro nbẹ!
Call the police!   Pe awọn ọlọpaa
Christmas and New Year greetings   Ẹ ku Ayọ Keresimesi ati Ọdun Tuntun
Easter greetings   Ẹ ku Ayọ Ajinde
Birthday greetings   Ẹ ku Ayọ Ọjọ Ibi
One language is never enough   Ede kan ko to ri rara

Acknowledgements:
Yoruba phrases provided by Adedamola Olofa
Borrowed from: http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/yoruba.php (Retrieved: 22-Dec-2016)

Books to learn YORUBA:

A vocabulary of the Yoruba language - by Crowther, Sammuel Adjai; Vidal, Owen Emeric, Published 1852 - Read / Download