o_196h0fp7b15b9sam1rr8a4j13d8a.pdf

6 Unit 1: N’ílé ò.ré.
On the other hand, the pronoun is not dropped for second person
plural or when addressing someone older than you. For example:
Simple statement
Command
Õ jókòó “You (pl.) sat down” Õ jókòó! “You (pl.) sit down!” or
“You (honorific) sit down!”
Õ dìde “You stood up” Õ dìde! “You (pl.) stand up!” or
“You (honorific) stand up!”
Pronunciation
In rapid speech, Yoruba usually drops many sounds. Throughout
this book, your attention will be drawn to cases of vowel or
consonant deletion in rapid speech. From the first dialogue, here are
some examples of vowel and consonant deletion.
$ $
Õ joΩ$woœ$ to Õ joΩ$oœ$ You (pl. or honorific) please
nílé to n;’lé at home
sí oΩ$doΩ
to soœ$doΩ to a place
oΩ$rõœ rõΩ to oΩ$rõœ õΩ his friend
Language and culture notes
Greetings
Greetings are a major aspect of Yoruba culture. It is extremely
important that you know how to greet people in order to fit in with
Yoruba society. People who do not know how to greet in Yorubaland
are regarded as rude, lacking proper manners. Young men
prostrate themselves (i.e. lie flat on the floor with face down) to greet
older people, while young women usually kneel down to greet older
people. Notice that, in the first dialogue, Kunle prostrated himself
when greeting Tunji’s mother because she is older than he is. It is also
very important to use the honorific pronoun õ while greeting older
people. The honorific pronoun is not usually used among peers or
when older people greet younger people.