Yoruba language

People	Ọmọ Yorùbá
Language	Èdè Yorùbá
Country	Ilẹ̀ Yorùbá

Yoruba
Yoruba
Èdè Yorùbá
Native to	Benin · Nigeria · Togo
Region	Yorubaland
Ethnicity	Yoruba
Native speakers	L1: 45 million (2021); L2: 2.0 million (no date)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Volta–Niger YEAI Yoruboid Edekiri Yoruba; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Early form	Proto-Yoruboid
Writing system	Latin (Nigerian Yoruba alphabet, Beninese Yoruba alphabet); Yoruba Braille; Arabic script (Ajami); Oduduwa script
Official status
Official language in	Nigeria
Recognised minority; language in	Benin; Togo
Language codes
ISO 639-1	yo
ISO 639-2	yor
ISO 639-3	yor
Glottolog	yoru1245
Linguasphere	98-AAA-a
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

A Yoruba speaker, recorded in South Africa

Yoruba (US: /ˈjɔːrəbə/,^[2] UK: /ˈjɒrʊbə/;^[3] Yor. Èdè Yorùbá, IPA: [jōrùbá]; Ajami: عِدعِ يوْرُبا) is a language that is spoken in West Africa, primarily in Southwestern and Central Nigeria. It is spoken by the ethnic Yoruba people. The number of Yoruba speakers is roughly 45 million, plus about 2 million second-language speakers.^[1] As a pluricentric language, it is primarily spoken in a dialectal area spanning Nigeria, Benin, and Togo with smaller migrated communities in Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.

Yoruba vocabulary is also used in the Afro-Brazilian religion known as Candomblé, in the Caribbean religion of Santería in the form of the liturgical Lucumí language and in various Afro-American religions of North America. Most modern practitioners of these religions in the Americas do not actually speak or understand the Yoruba language, rather they use Yoruba words and phrases for songs that for them are incomprehensible. Usage of a lexicon of Yoruba words and short phrases during ritual is also common, but they have gone through changes due to the fact that Yoruba is no longer a vernacular for them and fluency is not required.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

As the principal Yoruboid language, Yoruba is most closely related to the languages Itsekiri (spoken in the Niger Delta), and Igala (spoken in central Nigeria).

^ ^a ^b ^c Yoruba at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
^ "Yoruba". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
^ Valdés, Vanessa K. (2015-03-04). "Yoruba Traditions and African American Religious Nationalism by Tracey E. Hucks (review)". Callaloo. 38 (1): 234–237. doi:10.1353/cal.2015.0025. ISSN 1080-6512. S2CID 143058809.
^ Warner, Maureen (1971). "Trinidad Yoruba — Notes on Survivals". Caribbean Quarterly. 17 (2): 40–49. doi:10.1080/00086495.1971.11829073. ISSN 0008-6495. JSTOR 40653205.
^ "History of Oyotunji". Oyotunji. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
^ Nigeria, Know (2017-04-13). "The Oyotunji Village: a Mini Yoruba Empire in the USA". Inspire Afrika. Retrieved 2020-10-13.

[e27-1] Yoruba at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)

[2] "Yoruba". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2 April 2024.

[3] Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh

[4] Valdés, Vanessa K. (2015-03-04). "Yoruba Traditions and African American Religious Nationalism by Tracey E. Hucks (review)". Callaloo. 38 (1): 234–237. doi:10.1353/cal.2015.0025. ISSN 1080-6512. S2CID 143058809.

[5] Warner, Maureen (1971). "Trinidad Yoruba — Notes on Survivals". Caribbean Quarterly. 17 (2): 40–49. doi:10.1080/00086495.1971.11829073. ISSN 0008-6495. JSTOR 40653205.

[6] "History of Oyotunji". Oyotunji. Retrieved 2020-10-13.

[7] Nigeria, Know (2017-04-13). "The Oyotunji Village: a Mini Yoruba Empire in the USA". Inspire Afrika. Retrieved 2020-10-13.

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Yoruba
Èdè Yorùbá
Native to	Benin · Nigeria · Togo
Region	Yorubaland
Ethnicity	Yoruba
Native speakers	L1: 45 million (2021)^[1] L2: 2.0 million (no date)^[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Volta–Niger YEAI Yoruboid Edekiri Yoruba
Early form	Proto-Yoruboid
Writing system	Latin (Nigerian Yoruba alphabet, Beninese Yoruba alphabet) Yoruba Braille Arabic script (Ajami) Oduduwa script
Official status
Official language in	Nigeria
Recognised minority language in	Benin Togo
Language codes
ISO 639-1	`yo`
ISO 639-2	`yor`
ISO 639-3	`yor`
Glottolog	`yoru1245`
Linguasphere	`98-AAA-a`
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.