|
|
|
Yoruba language resources
Yoruba is spoken on a daily basis in: Benin, Nigeria
Yoruba-->
-->
-->
-->
Additional background on
Yoruba
Yoruba (native name ede Yor�b�, 'the Yoruba language') is a dialect continuum of West Africa with over 22 million speakers. The native tongue of the Yoruba people, it is spoken, among other languages, in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo and traces of it are found among communities in Brazil and Cuba (where it is called Nago). Yoruba is an isolating, tonal language with SVO syntax. Apart from referring to the aggregate of dialects and their speakers, the term Yoruba is used for the standard, written form of the language. Yoruba is classified as a Niger-Congo language of the Yoruboid branch of Defoid, Benue-Congo.
The traditional Yoruba area, the southwestern corner of Nigeria, is commonly called Yorubaland and is comprised of today's Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Kwara, and Lagos states as well as the western part of Kogi state. Geophysically, Yorubaland forms part of a plateau (elevation 366 m) bordered to the north and east by the Niger River. A large part of it is densely forested; the northern part however, including Oyo, lies in the savanna to the north of the forest.
Yoruba
What are the most spoken languages on earth?
All data is derived from UNESCO.
|
|
Home
About
Contribute
Contact
Languages
Most spoken
By country
People
African
Asian
North American
Pacific
South American
Rainforests
Mission
Introduction
Characteristics
Biodiversity
The Canopy
Forest Floor
Forest Waters
Indigenous People
Deforestation
Consequences
Saving Rainforests
Country Profiles
Works Cited
Deforestation Stats
Pictures
Books
For kids
Tropical fish
|
|