o_196h0fp7b15b9sam1rr8a4j13d8a.pdf

About this book
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have spread Yoruba culture and religious principles throughout the
rest of Yorubaland.
For students of comparative linguistics and sociolinguistics, a
study of Yoruba can help yield extremely interesting results through
an examination of the various changes and differences that occur
between the language and culture of the home base and those of the
diaspora. Students of African literatures would also benefit from
studying Yoruba language, literature and culture, as many notable
African writers (for example, Wole Soyinka) are Nigerians. Further,
Yoruba is one of the most studied and researched African languages.
There are already two volumes of Yoruba Metalanguage, and
Yoruba is now being used for serious academic discourses such as
Masters and Ph.D. degree theses in some parts of Africa. Its importance
as an African language cannot be over-emphasized.
Yoruba belongs to the group of “Less Commonly Taught” languages
and has been recognized as a first priority language by a
national panel of African language teachers because of the number
of people for whom Yoruba is the first language, the political,
cultural and social importance of Yoruba within Africa, and because
of the extent to which the United States’ national interests are tied
to economic and diplomatic relations with Yoruba-speaking areas.
People and history
The term Yoruba describes a number of semi-independent peoples
loosely linked by geography, language, history and religion. The
Yoruba live primarily in Nigeria. They have resided in cities for
many hundreds of years and are among the most urbanized peoples
in Africa. Ibadan, located in southern Nigeria, is one of the oldest
and largest Black cities in Africa, with a population estimated at over
5 million. In the past, Yoruba cities formed the political centers of
city-states governed by a king and supreme council. In pre-colonial
times each city-state was autonomous and had its own distinct
dialect, religious cults and army. These ancient states frequently
fought with one another, and several centuries ago one of these
kingdoms, Oyo, became dominant. “Old Oyo,” as this state is called,
gave cohesiveness to Yoruba customs and contributed greatly to the
collective identity of modern Yoruba-speaking people.
Today, however, a Yoruba will often call himself or herself
“Ibadan” rather than Yoruba in order to emphasize their local
identity. There are more than fifty traditional Yoruba city-states