Yoruba

== English == === Alternative forms === Yorùbá === Etymology === Borrowed from Yoruba Yorùbá. === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /ˈjɒɹʊbə/ (US) IPA(key): /ˈjɔːɹəbə/ === Noun === Yoruba (plural Yoruba or Yorubas) (chiefly in the plural) A member of an ethnic group or tribe living mainly in southwest Nigeria, southern Benin, and eastern Togo and, as well as in communities elsewhere in West Africa, United States, Brazil and Cuba. ==== Derived terms ==== === Proper noun === Yoruba A sub-Saharan language. It belongs to the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family, and has nearly 40 million speakers in Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Sierra Leone, as well as communities in The United States, Brazil and Cuba. An African traditional religion which spawned various offshoots in the Americas in the 15th to 19th centuries, including santería and Lucumí. (See Yoruba religion.) ==== Coordinate terms ==== ==== Derived terms ==== Yoruban Yoruboid ==== Translations ==== === See also === Yoruba language on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Wiktionary’s coverage of Yoruba terms === Further reading === ISO 639-1 code yo, ISO 639-3 code yor (SIL) Ethnologue entry for Yoruba, yor ⁠ == Yoruba == === Alternative forms === Yoòbá === Etymology === Of unclear and disputed origin, it is likely that it was derived from an exonym from neighboring groups to the north, such as Hausa, Fulani, or Bariba. Various implausible etymologies have been proposed, often used to insult the Yoruba people or support supposed Middle Eastern or Jewish origins of the Yoruba people. What is certain is that the term was used originally in reference to only the Ọ̀yọ́ people (a subgroup of the Yoruba ethnic group) and the Oyo empire, and did not become used to refer to all Yoruba peoples until the late 19th century during attempts to foster a common ethnic identity. Etymological theories include: Several folk etymologies associate the term from coming from Hausa or Fula slurs of Yoruba people, such as Hausa ya rība meaning "One who cheats," referring to the supposed deceitful tactics Yoruba traders used, or Hausa ya ruba meaning "Bad or rotten person." These have been dismissed and proscribed by most Yoruba scholars, however, the Yoruba term yóóbá is derived from the first etymology, but is not to be mistaken with "Yoruba." According to linguist Kọlá Túbọ̀sún, it ultimately derives from a contraction of yārṑ +‎ ọba "Children of the Ọba", (referring to the Alaafin of Oyo). A newly proposed theory suggests it is a reborrowing from the word Yàgbà, a Yoruba subethnic group, borrowed into the Nupe and Hausa languages, where it became Yarba, and then reborrowed from Hausa Yarbanci === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /jō.ɾù.bá/ === Proper noun === Yorùbá Yoruba (people or ethnicity) Synonyms: ọmọ Odùduwà, ọmọ Oòduà, ọmọ Ilẹ̀ káàárọ̀-oòjíire, ìran Yorùbá Mo jẹ́ ọmọ Yorùbá. ― I'm Yoruba. Yoruba (language) Kò gbọ́ (èdè) Yorùbá. ― He doesn't understand Yoruba. (obsolete) Ọ̀yọ́ subethnic group ==== Derived terms ==== èdè Yorùbá