o_196h0fp7b15b9sam1rr8a4j13d8a.pdf

Unit 15: Getting information about someone 201
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Language points
Asking about someone’s last name
Yoruba culture is patrilinear. This means that inheritance comes
from one’s father side and, when a woman marries, she adopts the
family name of her husband. The family name is usually the last
name of the father. As a result, if you want to find out someone’s
last name, you literally ask for the person’s father’s last name or if
the person is a married woman, you ask for the last name of her
husband. For example:
Kí ni orúko≥bàbá rõΩ?
What is his father’s name?
Kí ni orúko≥o≥ko≥rõΩ?
What is her husband’s name?
Another way to find out someone’s last name, having established
their first name, is to use that first name in asking for the last name.
See the short dialogue below.
A: Kí ni orúko≥oΩ$rõœ rõ? What is your friend’s name?
B: Orúko≥rõΩni Toœ$põœ. His name is To≥põ.
A: Toœ$põœ kí ni? What is To≥põ’s last name?
(lit. To≥põ what?)
B: Toœ$põœ O¸˘ßoœ$. To≥põ O˘ßo≥.
How to ask “how long?”
If you want to know how long someone has been doing something
or living somewhere, you will need to use láti ìgbà wo? For example:
Làtí ìgbà wo l’o ti n; dúró de Tunji?
Since when have you been waiting for Tunji?
Wákàtí méjì sõœhìn.
The past two hours.
Làtí ìgbà wo ni ó ti n; sùn?
Since when has she been sleeping?
Wákàtí mésànán sõœhìn.
The past nine hours.