Yoruba-names Modupe Oduyoye

8/19/2019 Yoruba-names Modupe Oduyoye

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NIGERI N N MES

A Daystar Series

The series is planned 0 include studies

o

the personal names characteristic

o

the peoples

o

Nigeria Yoruba Igbo Hausa Efik Edo Itshekiri and

so

on.

This book the first in the series gives

n

idea

o

what will be achieved

through the series which we hope will be pleasing to all cultured Nigerians

and others interested in Nigerian culture.

o


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\ :7

, & .

DAYSTAR

PRESS, P. O. BOX 1261,

lBADAN, NIGERIA.

First Publishe d 972

r{

oduN

Oduyr >ye

972

To

MAMA

5.15.11.15

PREFACE

This is not a dictionary

of Yoruba

names. If, therefore, you turn

the pages eagerly to find your own name or the names of your friends

and

relations

and

they are

not

here, you should not be disappointed:

it s a dictionary

of

Yoruba names which should list all the items.

The subject

of

this book s the structure

of

Yoruba names. The idea

of

such a

book

came into my mind in the course

of

teaching the

Yoruba

language to adult non-native speakers for the Department

of

Extra

Mural Studies of the University

of

Ibadan and the U.S. Peace Corps.

I found a distinct handicap in

that

the students invariably returned from

the class sessions to live

and

work

innon-Yoruba

speaking environments.

They therefore lacked opportunity for practice in real life situations,

which s the one thing

that

might have helped them perfect what they

had learnt in class and remember them.

This book, then, is conceived as a language learning aid: whether

you have to speak

Yoruba or

not, you are likely to know some

Yoruba

names and to meet them daily in the newspapers or hear them on the

radio or in the streets. I f you know the structure of these names and

remember their meanings, you already have a basis for building the struc

ture of Yoruba speech.

For

Yoruba names are structured like Yoruba

phrases and sentences; and they almost invariably have extant meanings.

This, then, s a minimum grammar of the Yoruba language. I

have been interested in the fact

that

one could write an almost complete

grammar

of

the Y

oruba

language using nothing

but

names for illustra

tions.

For

teaching the language to non-native speakers, this has one

advantage: Yoruba names, whether phrases

or

complete sentences, are

written as single words. The names, therefore, mirr or exactly the stream

of-utterance situations. Instead of lu m l fkun as the sentence would

Printed

by

Abiodlilz Printing Works Limited Ibadan 3835/971

3

'$8

; ~ i i0 1 i : - C ~ ; O


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l

. 1

j>

be written, the name

is

written as Oltlrfl11flfkim which gives a better

guide for pronunciation and for conversation.

For

one does not pause

after each word in speech: the sentence consists

of

five words, but it

is

one utterance.

In

learning to speak a language, one should be learning

utterances, not isolated words. Here is the value

of

the approach in this

book.

All this apart, the subject

of Yoruba

names is itself

of

sufficient

interest

to warrant

treatment. Evidence

of

this is provided in the fact

that at

least four books

on

the subject were being prepared for publication

during 1969. Non- Yorub as will find it interesting to read

of

a culture in

which virtually every name has an extant meaning and to compare the

sentiments contained in the names with similar sentiments in their own

culture.

The

reader will have noticed

that

I inscrt

the

word virtually

whenever I speak

of

every

Yoruba

name having a meaning. Actually,

every

Yoruba

name has a meaning,

but

the meanings

of

some

of

them

are getting lost*

just

as many

of the

names arc disappearing with changed

social

and

religious situations, which are the factors

that

produced the

sentimcnts which the names were meant to commemo rate in the first place.

As often happens when a culture migrates, older Yoruba names

such as

Konigbdgb

and Ojul11irf can be found now among the Creoles

in Freetown, Sierra Leone, who have kcpt up an unbroken tradition of

giving their children appropriate Yoruba namcs, even though the ability

to choose thc names

is

110 longer widesprcad, but has become the

job

of

consultan ts sometimes the older men and women in the community.

There

is

no doubt

tl;;.at

personal and place-names are some

of

the

oldest elements in the Yoruba language, and a study of them will reveal

much about the past history of

the

language and the people.

I should like to express my thanks to Miss Kay Williamson

of

the

Department

of

Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of Ibadan,

who read

the

manuscript

at

an early stage and to

Dr A.

AwobulLlyi

of

the same DepaItment who read the final draft. Both Dr

u j Q r ~

of

the University

of Ibadan and Dr

Alfred

Opubor of

the University

of

Lagos gave valuable editorial advice. The

book

was

put

into

final shape during the session 1969-70 which I s pent in the Insti

tute

of

Education, University

of

London,

on

a course in the provision

.. Most of the 1l11litrlrulliva names, for instance, whose meanings can only be found

through etymological research.

4

of text book s: I record my gratitude to the Christian Literature fund of

the

World Council

of

Churches for the scholarship which made the

study leave possible;

and to

Mr. A. J. Loveridge

of

the

Department for

Education in Tropical Areas who was

tutor

for the course.

Ibadan,

1971

Modupy OduY9ye

5

. , : ~ c 1 , c"". : : . . : : ~

, ~ : : : e ; - , , ~ , · ,

i e


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II

"

L

.f"

PARTTWO: CULTURAL

CLASSIFICATION

61

What's ina

name?

.

Muslim and Christian Names among

the Yoruba

65

68

Olu,Ohiwa, ~ I Q n m - God ..

d ~ a Ori- - Patronsaints,specialdeities; head

69

lUi-

Augury ..

69

71

A w o-

Secret

Cult

71

Od"

- -

OracularUtterance

Ot;;o-Seer

72

Ogun - Godoffire, patronof smiths ..

72

- -

Hlinters ..

73

73

Akal1- ValiantWarriors

Ogun- War

74

Om\-

Artis tic Ge n ius..

75

75

AYlnJlJl

- -

The

Sound

of Drums..

75

O y ~

{)$lUJ.,

Omi

--'

Rivers

..

< ILl1i, ]):fml!

....

- Fertilityand Plenty

76

77

Qm9

.

Children

..

78

Qj¢,

Eegiilll

--- TheDeadComebackto Life..

78

XIII.

'Tunde-Reincarnation

Abik i i - tnfantMortality

7S

79

]J:idm, AYQ - Weeping,Joy

Ade·-

Crown,Royalty ..

80

Oye- -

Tille, Chieftaincy

81

Q$l.n

- -

Chief ..

82

Ohi-

HighEstate

83

Amiiil)funwa-

Namesbroughtfrom

heaven

85

PART

THREE

Exercises

89

8

01

= · · ~ ; ; ; : O · - : : - ~ ; ; ; m l P ~ < W , _ , , _ { i j f _ ~

I

I

II.

I

I

I

1

II

I

I

I

I

Ii

I

i

Ii'

ii'

II Iii

Ilil'l

i,ll,

I

III

I

"

I

'I

I' ii

i

I ii

I i i

I: I

I

." '

"" _

; .{,U := ; -


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l

J

I

TIlE NOUN

PHRASE

The simplest structure in Yoruba names is A B, where A is

and B another nOLln

juxtaposed

to it.

In this construction,

a noun

noun B

qualifies noun

A:

A B

AM

Ohi

- AdeQhi

Ola

Olll

Qlaohl

Ola

Ifa

Olaifa

OP¢

Olu p ~ o l

0]( [

l k ~ o h i

01 [

l f ~ o l u

Iyi

Qla

IyiQhi

Odll

Ohi

OdiiQla

AY9

Q J ~ i

AYQQla

0];1 Oye

- Qlaoye

AM

Oye

Adeoye

.f;m i

Qlci

~ m i Q l a

Oyin

Qhi

- OyinQla

Akin

01


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1-

t

I

i

Qdllll han - Qduntan

"A year (famed in) story"

Agbo la

-

AgboQhl

"Circle of honour"

I

Ad6

gbo Adcagbo

"Crown

of

(family) circle"

Ad6 O ~ L m

-

AdcQ un

"The crown of 9 ~ u n

Qla

Opa

- QhiQpa

"The glory of plentiful harvest"

Qla Iya

Qlaiya

"The glorious influence of mothers"

Popo Qhi - PopoQhi

"The highway of honour"

TH

SIMPLE

SENTENCE

(a)Ayt)

Ad6

-

AYQade

"The

joy

of

a

crown"

lbllkltn Qla -

Ibuk(mQhi

"An increased allotment

of honour"

(i) Below is the structure of sentences like A is B:

.eblll1 QIQrun-

tbim

"Gift of

God"

Qr

y

OIClwa - Qr y

"Gift of Goel"

Baba l'

Qla

- BabalQhi "Father is

(the

source of) honour"

Wura

Qbi - WiidH,IIa

"Gold of

honour"

Oyin I Qla - OyinlQhi

"Fame is (sweet as) honey"

QdLIll

Ewu - Odlmcwu

"A year

of danger"

Jf


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l 1 ,


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IV) The 1stpersonpronoun is an indirectobjectin thefallowing:

OIu bim

mi

- Ohlbimmi

"God gaveme"

Qde mbunmi

- Q d ~ b i m m i

"The hunter gaveme"

Hi blm mi

- 'Fabimmi

lfa gaveme"

Baba abun

mi

- BaMbimmi

"Father gave

me"

(v) There are afew doubly transitiveverbs in Yoru

ba

- verbs which

EMPHASIS

take two

objects: a direct object

and an

indirect object.

The

verb is

immediately followed by the indirect object

as above. Nextcomesthe

The structure of the sentence Where theverb TO BEwas used

to

directobjectpreceded

by

the particle

la/mil:

indicateidentityresolvesintoX I'

Y

whereXisa

noun

and Yis

another

Olllflmn

IIfll aye)

- Oh ifunh iy i)

"God gave mejoy"

noun.

The

namesbelowshowconstructi onswhereY is aclausewith a

Odiulfulln

09ade

-- - OdufUnlJade

"The oraclegavemeacrown"

subjectand afiniteverb:

A- k¢

m

IIliJ

- A k Q m Q I M ~

"One who teaches childrenfop

pishness"

X

I'

Y

Ow6

r

abi

- Owolabi

I t is moneywe gave

birth

to "

1

Ow6nn

It is money"

AkinI' abi

Akinlabi

It is abrave man wegavebirth

to"

Akin

ni.

"He is abrave man"

OJ¢ I'

a

bi

- OWabi

It

is

an

ON

wegave

birth

to"

OJ¢

nL

"He

is an

ON"

Ote) I'6rin

Qti)lOdn

"It's adifferent

route

he

walked"

Qt()

oi

Trallslalc inlo Yuruba:

"It's adifferentone"

ather gave me

a

drum

r----\---

----- -- -----

I

Doubly

I

Mother

gaveme

acap

The inversion frorll A

i OW J

to Owc5

I' a i

elTccts emphasis by

Sub-\Tran-

111- Direct

Teachergaveus

books

1 1

case, give

l iS

children

putting the objectfirst: object,copula,subject,liniteverb.

ject sitive direct object I

verbs obj ect

God, giveus

peace

Giveme

money

Note that whenfollowedbythecontinuousparticle 1M

or the habitual

-.--

~ J

particle IfI the mid-tone pronouns become low-tone. The mid-tone

pronouns

are

A40 1 ,

0

"You",

A

"We",

1;; "You":

Givehim

his shoes

1

k

I

l' a

n

- ~ o l i l l i k f

It

is aseerwearetakingcare of"

[Ii.

It isaseer"

Ad6

l'

a

r\

wa':'

Adellulw:i

____ I YU_ _ J . ~ l m

.

It

is acrownwe arelooking

[or"

AM

FUll wa

11 1

Olll1jy

It is acrown"

Je)w oJ,

f(1ll

mi

nil

t' em i

a

Aye r a i gb6

AyeHigbe

"The world is the place where people

normallylive"

Aye

IIi.

It is

the

world"

18

19

3 · , .. fm c ....

YeL] ,;.,,\',· ,


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)


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'

• I'

to

coil round

to turn

i . . . kli

Honour

surrounds me

Qlliyinkli

1


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'\\9

v

INiTJ AL

li-/

mALECTS

i"UTliAL

lu,l

DiALECTS

In

Yoruba

noulls of the structure VCY, where the initial vowel is

Ii-

in

the

QY9/1badan dialects, it

is lu-I in the Ondo-Ekiti/ljybu

dialects,

Initial Ii-I and initial Ill-I in Yoruba are therefore dialectal alternatives.

The Ii-I of the QY91lbadan dialects now

prevail

in the common

dialect.

But Yoruba

names alTer evidence of the prevalence of the

lu-I

alternative:

F'ah,yi

< Ha l' uyi

(\f]

["J

./

/

The

Ii- and

ILI-j dialect distinction coincides wilh a shibollethl

sibokth dialect distinction: wherever the speakcrs of the

Ii-

dialects say

the shibilantsh, the speakers

of

the Ill--I dialects say the sibilant s, and vice

versa.

The common

dialect

has drawn

its

features from both

groups:

it

has

the /i-I

and not

the

lu-/. But

it chooses its sibilant

and

shibilant

according

to

the practice of the lu-I dialect group. Examp!es arc:

Oyi)/Ibadan

O n d o - E k i t i / i j Q b l j j ¢ ~ a

"yallls"

isu

"work"

5

,

,

I

....... ..•

rttm' T"""','·'


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l .. ,


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VII

THii;HIGH.

TONE BEfOlim U'lE :FJfNHE

VERJEl

In

aFl1rmative sentences in Yoruba,

there

is a

high tone before

the

finite verb.*

It

results in

the

follovving

changes of

tone

in the subject:

ii i

ii

:t] :ffJ

il1Jh i

OiiJ;w'I'lc

Adc

AllcY9

mn

OJa

(N,lwimmi

Q)iIiJt(p {,mb0

O ~ { i

~ } 6 \ ~ v

'r:;l6wimJl1i

]jf{j

'Kl.k l ~ s d } E ~ y a

AldJQv,'[mml

l ~ ~ b a

Habintimllic

naMdnsll.

lye

'YclillmIc

r m

[]

r{ij

[it]

[ A y ~ c J t t n d e ]

-

A y ~ t i ~ m ; c

[Ayc)()d6]{;] - AY\ldleRc

[ } h , ~

.

[Oyi:;!Ssfnil]

-

Oye:;;i",,)

~ ~ l t

[Odlujyoye]

O,hiyqyc

()ml.

[(/ni\;.(b6Ill] ,-,. Qm1bOIII

'Ycw:imic

It

is not a [mite verb.

" The verb

TO

DE is

it copula

lillk between two nouns.

28

i

ll

l

II

I

1

I

(i)

I

Lord

The Lord

enters

the house

Valour

appeals

to me

Crown

I

like bravery)

The

crown

fits

me

Father

Honour

Father

comes

again

Honour appeals

to

me

Father

saw

me and ran away

(I

like honour)

Honour returns from

overseas

Mother

rvrother

comes

again

Seer

Mother

has cOl11e to look for me

A

seer enters

the

house

A

seer

appeals

to me

(I

like a visioner)

Divination

Divination

befits

me

(iii)

,

(ii)

;

Children

Joy

II

A child is enough for joy

Joy

comes

again

A

child

comes again

Joy

arrives

in the house

A

child

appeals

to

me

"tl

(I

like children)

A

title

i

A

title

opens

the

way

The

cult

The cult has

respect

Oracular utterance

The cult

avenges

wrong Oracular utterance

rejoices

at

a title

The man of secret arts

draws a.

linc

Art

The

valiant

man

Art

fits

God

The

valiant

man repays an

injury

i

29

'

- - - : ~ ~ : ~ - = - 2 : 1 . J i l ~ d •. .;. · @ S ~ ·

_ _

.

~ : E J 1 i ~ i ~ 1 ; 1 ~ ; , ,If"


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~

•

•

VIII

STATIVE VERBS

Stative verbs describe the state of a thing', not an action, not

"what

a

noun

or

pronoun

does". Yoruba , like the Semitic languages, uses

stative verbs immediately after the subject where English would use

adjectives after the verb TO

BE:

2

aP9

- - It is plenty ( a plenty)

a j l

- - It

is larger, bigger, older

6 P9 ju

---

It

is

too much

Ad6 P9 jil

-AdCpQju

- Cr owns arc too many (in

our

family!)

a

dim

- I t

is sweet

(a

sweet)

Ibi

dun

-Ibidim

- Chi ldbi rt h is sweet

a

dimju

- It is too sweet

a ju aye

-

It

is greater

than

titles

6 dim j' aye

- It

is

sweeter than titles

Ola dim

j'

aye

Qhidimjoyc

- An honourable state is sweeter than

titles

6 yllll - -

It

is sweet (Ij'tbll)

Epa I iI

yun

l ~ p o y m

Oil

is

sweet

6

jin

-

It is far (afar)

Omi i.J jin

- Omijin (The) way

is

far

a

tutll-

- It is

cold/wet/soothing

Ad6 tutu AdetllltiI

The crown

is

comfortable

a

taro - -

I t

is clear (a

clear)

like water when

the sediments have settled

Ad6

taro -AdetOro

_. The crown is well ordered and at peace

1 Hence they are called "descriptive verbs" in E.C. Rowlands, Tel/ch Yourself YO-

RUBA (English Universities Press, 1969) Note how the verb

jtl is

used to express

the ideas of" ... than" and of the superlative degree.

:z Hence they are also called predicative adjectives.

32

~ l l

I

,

I

I,

016

- It rises up

0169

kan

- It rises up (in number) by one

1


20/57

Ko t6 i - O t y ~

I t is not enough to sneer about(?)

In

speech, the particle

i

is assimilated

to

the preceding vowel:

'T66yfn, 'T66sfn. t66kf, ~ e e s i n ' eenf, dununni, dununbi.

34

; ~ .

IX

TITLES MASTER OF ...I LORD OF

...

Owu

Ol6wu

- Lord ofOwu

Ak6

Alake

- Lord

of Ake

tfin

- palace

AIMtfin

Lord of the palace (at 9n?)

Ek6

- Lagos

Eleko

- Lord of Ek6

WQ

QIQwQ

- Lord of 9wp

Ikija

Akija

Alakija

- Lord

of ltdja

ebftte

-

harbour

Elebute

Harbour

master

Qrun

- heaven

QIQrun

Lord of

heaven:

God

Edumare

*Odumare

OIOditmare

-

Lord of

splendour, full

of

glory:

God

The one whose glory spans the skies like a rainbow

ade

- crown

Alade

- the crowned one.

To

form a

noun

meaning

the

owner of. ..

,

use as a prefix

to

the

noun the initial vowel

of

the noun plus

11/

the initial vowel

of

the

noun

being raised

to

a high tone. When the initial vowel

of

the

noun

is

/

i-I

the consonant

III

is realised as n. In this case, the prefix vowel

is

10/. For

nouns which begin with a consonant, use as

prefiX

on£ .

I

cf. Old/in rJin

with the same meaning as

Alddjin ddli

n

35

,

'1\


21/57

.

The following names are composed of a subject which is a noun of

ownership, e.g. onfpif and a predicate, e.g. the verbs de "to

arrive",

Y

"to rejoice".

alit'!'

ahHa

AI:iHide

oro

0161'0

Olorode

Ayan

Ahiyan

Alayande


22/57

Note the non-obligatory role

of the

preposition

Isil "towards". It is

idiomatic to

omit

it after

wu "come", bp

"return",

r "go",

etc.

It

is like English

Go home

(in

contrast to Gu to the house and Come

home (in conrast to Come to the house . Latin

had

domum, an accusative

without

a preposition, after verbs of going

to mean "homewards". In

Yoruba,

wei

'Ie

"Come home"

6

wa

'bi

"He came

here"

6

de

'Ie

"He

got home"

6

de

'bi

"He

got here"

But

6

de

si

'bi

"He

lodged

here"

Wa i l l

'bi

"Come here" (an instruction)

Mcla

b¢

ill

'bi

"Come on here" (an

invitation)

A bi s .

ogun Abisogun

"One born in a situation of war"

A bi S

l lga - B is iiga

"One

born

into a

palace"

But

A bi

•

QdL ll

-

b i ~ d i i n

"One

horn

during a festival"

A bi

•

- b i ~ s ~

"One born

on

the Sabhath"

A- bi ir

Qlci

- b i ~ l a

"One born into fame"

A- b i

oye

- AMoye

"One

born

into a chieftaincy title"

A-

bi ir

¢na

-

b i ~ I l

"One born on the road"

When the

preposWon

s

is omitted, the high

tone is

retained

transferred

to

the following syllable:

Mo ti

1 J

•

Ie

"I

am

going

home"

Mo n 1 J iii Ek6 "I

am going

to Lagos".

38

X

THE NOUN FORMING

PREFIXES:

A-I and

IA-;

(i) The low-tone prefix A-I forms abstract nouns from verbs or

verb phrases.

In

the names below, it means

"A

thing which ",

A

person

whom

".

j Q k ~

AjQ

kf

Someone

whom we are

all

to pet*

together

b ~ k ~

A k¢

Someone who has to be

begged

so

that

we

may

pet

him

r i k ~

A

ri

k¢

Someone who only needs

to be

seen to be

petted

b i k ~

A ik¢

Someone born to be petted

j i k ~

Ajik¢

Someone whom one pets daily on waking up

d u k ~ A du k¢

Someone

whom

people

scramble to pet

Al':labi

A

ya

bi

Someone chosen

to

be born

~ a k ~

A:ja k¢

Someone chosen for petting

AYQkli

A

y¢

i

Someone

surrounded

with joy

g h e k ~

A gbe

k¢

Someone

to be carried and petted

AriYQ

A

ri y¢

Someone whom men rejoice to see

Adimni

A

dun

ni

Something sweet

to

have

Akanni

A kan ni

A child conceived with a touch(?)

Akanbi

A

kin bi

A child born with a

touch(?)

Ajani

A

ja

ni

Someone possessed

through

struggle

Ajilkaye

Aja

ka aye

(A war)

fought

all

round

the world

(ii) The mid-tone

prefix lal means "the person who... ". The full

form

is

eni

ti

6.

bal... verb

I;:ni

ti 6

ba Qd Lm

rin

- AbQdiinrin - One who walks in with a

festival

A

b Qd

y rin

-

b d ~ r i n

- One who walks with a

hunter

I

" "to pet", Le., to spoil (of a

child)

with affection.

I

39

II

l

if

(/:,j j

l .. )


23/57

A

bM rl

7

a

de

- AbOdi;mde - One who arrives with the

orisa

A

biiilQya de

-

Ab yade

-

One

who arrives with the

Oya River (Niger)

A bi de . b s ~ d e

-

One

who arrives

on

the day

of

rest (Sabbath)

A

bll eeglm de - Abegunde - One who arrives with the

masquerade

A

bil

Jf


24/57

-

~ i I J

ect ba 9


25/57

e

Sec the following:

f' iwa aye - F i w a ~ a y c

"Conduct life with good

character"

1"

j'

aye

"Enjoy life without haste"

f' QrQ l' agba

"consult elders about a problem"

1" t;j(J SLl11

"make a report"

f' iya jy

"p lInish hi m"

'$adc F ikll

~ c r i P I a y

with

death"

- - - - - - - - - · · ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - i

oye

verb

and

noun

5e-!-ad;

lade

gb'

noun

or

pronoun

Pi

I

qhi

~ ~ r Q h l

¢sQ

- r ~ ~ ~ l - l - ~ I

mental

particle

F iwa ~ a i y ( ; "Go through life with

. good condl1ct"

Fi

pen

k(J we "Write

with a pen"

Fi fork

)\?UIl "Eat

with a·

fork"

Ta

1'0

f

qw(J kim mi? "Who tou

ched me?"

Qnafqw(Jkan(Qnalilf'qw(J kan) "The

Artist's

touch"

F'¢hin ti ogiri "Lean on a wall"

I

(iii) Association: the particle bci

·1

ba . . . 1verb \

ba n ji

- Qhiblinji

"Fame

woke up with me"

b a n M

- A d e b l i n k ~ "The crown helped me to

pet"

:1

j

qla

ji

- MobQlaji

"1 woke up with

honour"

j oye

jq

- AdebOyej/ )

A crown fitly associates with a title"

I

a

n de 'Ie

- Bandele

"Get

home with me"

,II

II

ba

n

t¢

'fa -

B a n t ~ f a

"Help

me

to

set

down

the

Ira

board"

ba n kQ 'Ie

- BankQle

"Help

me to build a house"

I

ba m gbj

- -

B a m g b O ~ e

"Help

me fetch

the

double-axe"

'1,

Predicate Banj/)

B a n k ~

Banji

Get home with us Ba wa de '16"

Ade>

Sit with them "B,i

w Jn

j6'k6"

Wa q wa jyun, OILl'wa

"Come

eat

Olu >

with

us, Lord"

I

Subj,ct

raJ

Ade I 1

jq

k¢

Olu

I b'l I n

Qla

I I I

ku

ji

de

B,i mi j6ko "Sit with me"

ij) The Preposition

lilt

"from..."

Qla>

Ra mi de 'Ie

"Get

home with me"

>

l' ~ ~ e r b

Ma j6ko I'

asan

"Don't

sit idle"

l' okun b0 - - Adetokunbr)

"The crown returns

from

overseas"

l' lIgb6

b()

- -

TugbObr)

"Returned from the bush"

I

t'

ilc w,i

- Motihlwa

I

came

fro111

a

home"

i

e j

t'

inll k¢

- Atimlk¢

A

child petted from the

womb"

{ :

I

Predicate

i,

'

'Toknnbr)

----------1--_·

__ ······ ----1

Subject I kiti I

'TinuM

Ni 'gba ti mo t' Ek6 de

Prepo- Name

AmutQrunwa (A

mu

t'Qrun wit)

sition of Verb

I

A t Qrun b(J wa

j'aiye

"from"

place .

Mo

11

t'

Ode

b()

1 - - - - 1 - - - -

Mo

11 t' qja b0

Ade I l' I ~ k l l n I

bQ

When I arrived from Lagos

That which is brought from heaven

QI,i

I

Qy(J I

Coming from heaven to enjoy life

I am coming from

an

outing

. Mo t' ile wa

,----

1---1--

I A t' intI M

I

am coming from the market

L

~

I . I

44

45

I

In

I 1/1

I,

•

t


26/57

XII

THE FIRST PERSON SINGULAR PRONOUN

(i ) Subje ct Mo:

M o d u p ~ - Mo d L l p ~

MojisQla - Mo ji siQla

MonilQla

Mo

ni 1I1 Qli

MosunmQla

Mo

sun mQ Qlci

MorakiIIYQ - Mo

rI akin

Y9

M o r ~ n i k ~ Mo

ri

yni k¢

Moradeun

- Mo

ri ade

hun

2

MorohunfQhi

Mo ri ohun fun QI,i

Morohundiya - Mo ri ohun di iya

MorohunmubQ- Mo ri ohun mLI bQ

T


27/57

L

0

,


28/57

xv

NEG TIVE P RTICLES

I) Ko /

0

in indicative sentences:

a

sl l

9kQ

-

KosQkQ "There is no hoe"

a ku mQ

- KokurnQ

"He

no

longer dies"

a f' owo r' 91a

-

KOfow rQhi

"She did not buy high estate with

money"

a to i

- K O t y ~

I t

is

not enough to

. . . .

"

Ade a

ti

.

deoti

"The crown does

not

fade"

Qla 0 'bi kan

- Q l a o ~ e b i k a n

"Honour does

not

dwell (ex

clusively) in one place"

Bi

a

ba kli

- Biobliku

"If he does

not

die, ... "

(ii) Ki i/i

i-negative

particle ki/i plus habitual particle i:

Qla

i

i tan - Qlaiitan "Achievements of honour never

finish"

Aje i i gbe - jeiigbe "Prosperity never perish"

(iii) ad before high tone words

Mar before

other

words in prohibitions - "Don't. ..

":

Mar

19

mQ

-

MalQrnQ

"Don't go (away) any more"

Mar

S9 m i n u

- MasQrninu "Don't throw me away"

Mar

b'

o gim

j¢ - M a b o g u n j ~ "Don't ruin a medicine"

Mar

da

'r i

kim - Madarikan

"Don't turn round to

meet (me)"

M a r j ~ klilo

dun mi -

M a j ~ k d u n r n i "Don't

let

it pain me"

Mail

y -

M a f ~

"Don't

marry

him/her"

Mar

ti ilu kur - MatiJuko "Don't leave the town"

The subjunctive particle ki after

it

M a j ~

Mar j¢ k'o dim wa - Don't let it

~ ~ l I

grieve

us

Mar

j¢ k'o dim

wt5n

-

Don't

let it

~ ~ ~ I ~ 0 [ ~ ~

pain

them

50

(iv) The Negative: ... t1 (See 6

ti "No")

a

"He

read it"

d

No

"He tried in vain to read it "

a ka

a ti

"He tackled a matter"

a

Qrim

"He

tried to solve a problem,

but

failed"

a

Qran ti

"He never failed in an attempt t o solve a

problem"

Ee Qran ti

lfa

doesn't

try to solve a problem without succeed

!fa:

ee Qran ti

ing"

a

kli

"He died"

"He

couldn't die" <

Kuti

6

kli

ti

(v) The O i l d o / i j ~ b U Negative Particle (also Ekiti

and I j e ~ a

before high tone

er before mid and low tones

Akin - 0 ku gbe

Akin - ee

ku

gbe

[Akinr.kugbe] kinkligbe "Brave

vain"

men don't die in

Akin - 6

bQ

'hun

Akin - ee

bQ

hun

[Akinr.bQhim] AkinbQhun "Brave

heart"

men

don't

lose

Akin

- 0

t¢

mi

Akin - ee

t¢

mi [Akinr.t¢mi]

A k i n t ~ r n i

"The

brave

man

does

not

let

me down"

Awo - 6 ~ i k a

51

!


29/57

Awo - eR ~ i k a

[ A w 6 ~ i k a ] A w ~ i k a

Ifa - 6 Qran

ti

Ifa - elil Qran

ti

[ F a . ~ Q r a n t l ]

F a ~ Q d m t i *

Ifa - 6

b'

Lilli

Ifa

- ell! b'

Lilli

[ F < i B b l J l u j ~ ]

F a b i d u j ~ *

Ow6

- 6 tlil QmQ

Ow6- eetNiI QmQ

[Ow6i11tQmQ]

OwOti}IllQ

QmQ- 6

ir

aYQle

QmQ- ce 1m aYQlc [QmQliIlaYQlc] QmQJaYQJe

Ifa

- 6

jm

uyl

tan

If,i- ce

jr l

uyit,ln

[Faliljuylt


30/57

XV

DIPHTHONGIZATION:

ay(V»ai ;

aw(V»au

There

may be

disagreement

on the

question

whether there are

diph

thongs in

Yoruba. The point doesnot seem to me worth

arguing

about,

for it is a

matter

of terminology.

Readers who do not

like

the term

"diphthongization" are free to givea different name to

the

phenomena

which

we study

below:

1.

T¢ aye

wo

Tlit

aye

wo

[tei-ye-wo] (3 syllables; Iy

aconsonant)

Taiwo'

[t,iy -wo](2syllables; I asemi-vowel;

l i

lost)

2. 01

ge)"cut it";

mu

u(

>

mu)

"take it";

j6

0 ( > jo)

"burn it". Twosyllables(high,mid)becomeone(midtone).

6 Seeonj(( ol1nj((

<

ohunjij((

"food <

ediblething"

55

,

r

II

!I

I,

I

,

II

I

,

III

I

(I

I

If

,I

I II

,I

i

"

1

I

1

1

,


31/57

I

Mo

ri

ohun mil bl)

Mo re

ohun mil b¢

Ad6

nil

ohun

Ad6

1 0

ohun

mll

Olll

nil ohun

bi

Ki

a

nu

ohun wi

- MorounmiIbQ

-

R n k ~

- A de rou nmu

-

Olurounbi

- Karunwi

(4

syllables)

II

I

XVII

I

I

I

11

\

Ii

Each

of

the following namcs has three syllables: Alilo, Aklm6,

Adi6, Aja6, AmQo, A b ~ o I cannot give any meanings for them. They

originate in little

orfki

and names

of

endearing.

See

next chapter.

ORIKI*

It

will be seen

that

AIdb Akdna [aIda] Adib

etc all have the tone

pattern

Iil

III -

the same tone pattern as most

of

the names in the two

tables on page 39;

A b ~ b i

A b ~ k ~ etc. All these are

oriki pet

names"

as Samuel Johnson calls them

on page 85 of

The History

o

the Yon/bas:

This

is

an attributive name, expressing what the child is,

or

what he

or

she is hoped to become.

f

a male,

it

is always expressive

of

some

thing heroic, brave,

or

strong; if a female, it is a term

of

endearment

or

of

praise.

In

either case it is intended to have a stimulating

efTect

on the individual

The lise

of

the attributive name is so common

that

many children

arc better known by it

than

by their real names. Some

do

not

even

know their own real names when the attribut ive is popul ar. But

lhere

is

a method in the use

of

it; as a ru

Ie,

only children are addressed

by

their oriki by their elders, especially when they wish to express a

feeling

of

endearment for the child.

t is

considered impertinent

for a younger person to call an elder by his Oriki

or pet

name.

'II

i

I

i

I

I

I

'\

[III

I

I \

'l'It

is

uul easy to find a name for this in English because the

Llsage

does

nol

exist

among the English peop c\ Oriki ...

is

a little

more

than the "cognomen"

among

ancient Romans.

The

nearest I have found to

it

are the invocative recitals

of

Virgil in his Aineids In these

books

Virgil describes his heroes

and

his principal

actors

and

actresses

by

giving their genealogy treeS

and

re-counting the heroic

deeds of their deified ancestors.

Tn Yorubaland two categories of odk are easily distinguishable. There is a per

sonal or k

and

the family or ancestral orfk ." Ogunleye Agunbiade-Bamishe,

Know The Yorubas

(lbadan,

1968) pp. 32-33.

Ii

56

57

I,

I

•

f


32/57

1 t must be obscrvcd that this system was most at home among the Northern Yoruba

the i-dialect group. In fact, the -0 oriki are rare among Southern groups like the

ljc;bu.

The items in the third column are known as O r i l ~

The

term

OriN denotes foundation

or

origin,

and

is of an immense

importance in the tracing of a pedigree. Each one denotes a parent

stock. The

Oril

is not a name, it denotes the family origin or Totem.

The

real meaning

of

this is lost in obscurity. Some say they were

descended from the object named, which

must

be a myth; others

that the object was the ancient god

of

the family.

The

Totem represents every conceivable object e.g.

Erin

the elephant),

Ogun the god

of

war), Op6 post), Agbo (a ram), etc.

The

number

of totems of

course is large, representing as each does a distinct

famill

These one-word

oriki

must

be

distinguished

from

the longer literary

genre of the same name:

to

the little

orfki

may be applied the term

praise

name , to the longer

oriki

should bc applied the term praise

poem .

This latter will not concern us in this study; it is a literary-historical

genre in itself: every great man, every family, every town has its

oriki;

every anim al worth celebrating in verse has its own: so does every divinity.

They are treated at length in books such as Oridc(J

Yoruba

by

C.

L.

Adeoye 1969)

AW911

Oriki Oril?

by Adeboy e Babal ola Collins, 1967).

The first chapter of Rogelio A. Martinez Furc's Spanish anthology,

Poesia Yoruba is on Oriki la poesia de los dioses y los hombres . See

also Oriki by Bakare Gbadam9si.

A Yoruba

person's

full name before

the

post 1840

Christian

names

and surname innovation) had three elements:

1

:1

; 11

11

:1

1

)

I

I

I

\

I

i

:1

Ii

I

2

TIe I a i WO, k a to 89 m9 I

oruk9

i

,

I

I

1

I

r i l ~

totem)

Erin

Qkin

Ogun

Qg9

riki

pet name)

AIM

b ~ n i

Ajamli

Akan6

rukQ

name)

AbiQdun

j i b i k ~

AdcjiJmQ

Fagbcmi

2 Samuel Johnson, The History o f he Yorllbas, pp. 85-86.

For

a list of the orile and

the families they signify, see p. 86. Also page 195 of J. O. Lucas, The Religion of

the Yorllbas and pp. 6-12 of C. L. Adeoye, Orllkr Yoruba.

58

I

I

L

j

d

i

I

i


33/57

!

I

WHAT'S

IN

A

NAME?

f

A lot. The Hebrew for

name

is

shem,

the Arabic is

'ism.

Both

are cognate with Arabic wasama

to

brand,

to

mark" . A name, then, is

a mark, a

wasm, a

mark, a brand".

To

be nameless

is to

be without

identity. A name identifies the person.

Yoruba has the root

wsm/,sm:

we say

sam to put

a mark on...".

You

can trust Yoruba to break that CVCV verb into a "verb-nominal

collocation": from sam

we

have back-formed the YCY noun am a

mark, a sign". Only

is

left; we do not know what to do with it alone.!

Ortik9

II

Sam

has now been restricted to the branding

of

non-human beings:

we

mark things

and

brand cows,

but

we

name people.

Our

word for a

name

is oruler. What is

its origin?

Let us begin with the Yoruba for to mention":

Yoruba

tk/rukr to

mention" (d-r-k-)

Arabic

qakara

to

mention"

(&i 'ruler to mention

the name of...").

-ruler name

was then restructured and given legitimate

lexical status

as

a VCVCV noun by the usual noun-forming process of

vowel prefixing:

-rttkr>orukr.

Here

is

an illustration of the statement of

Ferdinand de Saussure that "the vast majority of words are, in one way

1 For if srJmi is a verb plus noun, and dmi is the nonn, wl1a is the verb? This is not

a case of ellision from

sa dmi.

The Hausa reflex of the root

is s/ Ina

name .

2 Me tathesis often takes place where /r/ is one of the consonants See Yoruba

eri'tp?,

Hebrew

'apar

dust . Robert Lord says on page 92 of

Teach Y ourse ( Comparative

Linguistics that "consonants (I) and (r) are the most frequently melathesised conso

nants".

61


34/57

or another, new combinations of phonetic elements torn from older

forms."l

Yaruba

orukr

"name" was back-formedfrom dimikr

"to

mcntion,

tomentionthename".2 They go backto the root~ r k d k r whose

basic meaningis found in Hebrew zakar "remember".

Orukr

"name"

is somethingto remember aman by- not amark,not abranding,

but

a linguistic symbol, a name.

"The

modern notion of 'remembering,

psychologically viewed as the actof an individual mind, is quite alien

to the Hebrew conception, which is in the first place communal,and

closely relatedto theideaof thenamt:.,,3

This relationship between the concept

of

a name and theidea

of

remembering can be illustrated from anotherbranch of theHamito

Semitic family: Middle Egyptian

rn

(Coptic ran) is glossed as "name".

Thereisnosuchroot

in

Yorubawiththemeaning"name". Butitoccurs

withthemeanillg"to remember":

run mi 1 eti

4

rUIl ' tf

ni

mi

ni 'ran

flf'ran

5

"remindme"

"remember"

"remindme"(Ijybudialect)

"remem bcr" (Ijybudialect)

I Course in General Lill/?lIistics (NewYork, PhilosophicalLibrary, 1959)

p

169.

2 It is unfortunate that E. C. RowlandsmentionsddYlik(J whenspeakingof

"a

number

of

'verbs' of two or more syllables which are acruaJly compounds of a verbplus

a noun." (Scepage 136 of his

Teach Yourself Yoruba).

da- in d6nikp which he

assumestobe theverbheglosscsas"make". Would

ddnik J

thenmean" tomakea

name"? The truth

is

thatno meaningcan beassigned to

dd- in ddruk(J

by itself,

not even on theprincipleenunciated onpage 132

of

E. C. Rowland's book - that

"the

mcanings of monosyllabic verbs are dependcnt on that of accompanyi;1g

words". Wheneverone is tempted to applysuch a principle,one shouldsuspect

that onc is

dcalingwith

"homophonous

verb

roots"

(See

Kay

Williamson

on

page

88 of

lBADAN. No.26.) Each

of

themhas adifferentetymology.

3A.G.Herbert,'" Memory,Memorial,Remember,Remembrance"inAlan Richard

son,ed.,

A Theological Word

Book o f ire

Bible

(S.C.M. Press, 1950)p. 142.

4 As with

most

of

such causativeconstructions in

Yomba,

the significant

w r -

oftenan archaicwordwhose abilityto standbyitselfis no longerappreciated

is

amplifiedwithwordsspecifyingthe

part

ofthebodywhichcomesintotheaction.

Thus:

rim mE l'

JW J "lend meaha.nd"(helpme)

rim mE 1 fru

"help

mewiththeload"

rim

is cognatewith Arabic

rabma

mercy", Hebrew

rabamim

"assistance,help".

rwr is cognatewithMiddleEgyptian' wy "hands"; fru is cognatewithMiddleEgy

ptian

hry

"under, carrying".

5 Hence

"a

generation" is

Iran,

which illustrates lexically

the

connection between

memoryand history, betweenthereca!!of kinglists(genealogy) and folkhistory.

62

We can pursue the root further. Whenin Genesis2, it

is

said:

"Male

and female created

he

them", the Hebrew word translated as

"male"

is zakar. Now,whathaszakar "male"to dowith

zakar

"to re

mcmber"? Brown, Driverand Briggs say on page 271 of A Hebrew

and English Lexicon

of

the Old Testament

that

the relation

of

zakar

"male" to the z-k-r- "remember" rootis obscure. Yorubawouldseem

tosharethisobscurity: theYorubafor"man" (male) is rldmrin bkilri],

thesameconsonantalrootas orLik(J withmetathesis.

t

Yoruba darukr is cognate with Arabicclakara; Yoruba or/tkr was

back-formed from Yoruba darukr; Yoruba rki'mrin bkilrI] is related

to Hebrewzikkaron "a souvenh". Theyall go backto the ideaof re

membering. Aname is whatwe remembera person by:a male childis

that one that keeps the name

of

the father from lapsinginto oblivion.

This is the relation between z-k-r- "to remember"

and

z-k-r- "male".

TheAfro-Asiatic society was a society that valued a male child speci

fically because he stayed

on

in the family and was

not

given away in

marriage. He perpetuatedthememory

of

theancestor.

He

was azeker

"a memorial"- rkimrin "male",zikkaron.

2

Orfki

Letus startby warningthereadernot to playthe folketymological

gamebyback-formingorf "head" fromthewordoriki. Not sosoonafter

we havejustbeentalkingabout

orukr. Orrik(J

and orfki havethesame

consonantalroot: -r-k-.

Orukr

is the linguistic symbol by which you

rememberan individual; oriki istheliteraryform by whichyouremem

berhimwithinthehistory

of

hisfamily, clan

and

tribt:. Hencethegenea

logicalcontent

of

orikl.

3

The nasalizationin

pkimrill

beganfrom thefinalconsonant,likethe Inl

in

Hebrew

zlkkaroll, and spread through assimilation: [Qkurin]> [Qkunrin] The

process

is

still going

on

in obirill

"woman" (d.

Arabic' imra'

"woman"

Agni

Ivo ry Coast

bla

"woman", Beri

obla

"woman") more frequentlyspel t

obinrill.

I differfrom ArchdeaconJ.O. Lucas,Religioll

of fhe Yorubas,

pages

92-3.

WhatArchdeacon Lucascalls" nasaln"

in

thefootnote

is

theorthographicdevice

inYoruba forshowingthat theprecedingvowel is nasalized.

2 zlkkaron has the word-formative sumxI-ani, foundin Lebanon

(


35/57

It is thought that the recital of the orfki arouses in the child a

strong feeling of solidarity with its blood relations...

l

For the

oriki

finds a secure place for the restless child in the midstof a host of ancestors.

The

oriki

invokes a host of ancestry, and the child is made to experience

the

communion of saints . Ther e are widely publicised stories of

many a mentally ill person who has been cured through the repeated

performance, in his hearing, of the

oriki

of his lineage.,,2

It

is a way of

tracing a man to his roots, to his genesis a way

of

integrating him into

a closely-knit web of family relationships and thus rescuing him from

I

I

"

marginality.

The Jews had a liturgical or sacrificial inemorial, the

zikkaroll

or azkarah, translated in the Septuagint by the word mnemosunOI1

synonym of anamnesis, the word used at the La st Supper.,,3 Thus

at

the service of Holy Eucharist Christians recite the oriki of

God:

Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of

aU

things, Judge of all men. We praise him, we bless him, we worship

him, we glorify him We chant the oriki

of

Jesus:

the

only begotten

Son, Jesus Christ, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away

the sins of the world,.... that sittest

at

the right

hand

of

God

the Father.

We say a creed different from the Apostle's Creed, because the Eucharist

is

a service of Memorial and we want to be able to recite the oriki of Jesus:

the only begotten Son of God. Begotten

of

his Father before all worlds,

God

of God, light of light, Very God

of

very God, Begotten, not made,

Being of one substance with the Father . By whom all things were made...

This is not ranting but praise: it is oriki.

And

God remembers 4.

ust as among the Yorubas, it is traditionally believed that the correct

performance of oriki in honour of a progenitor gladdens that progenitor

in the world of the spirits and induces him to shower blessings on his

offspring on earth. s

1

S

A. BabalQla,

The Content an d Form,

p. 25.

2 ibid.

3 Max Thurian,

The Eucharistic Memorial

(John Knox Press, Richmond Virginia,

1960) pp. 23-25ff. The term

zeker,

.. has, unlike

zikkaron

and

azkarah,

no primary

liturgical importance; it signifies the

memory

of a reality in thought

or

word and

hence often the name

of

a person .

4 ibid p.24.

5

S

A. BabalQla,

The Content and Form, p 24

MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN NAMES AMONG THE YORUBA

Christianity came into Yoruba land in 1842, Islam a century or two

earlier. With these two religions came the adoption of Semitic names by

Yoruba converts, converts to Christianity taking Biblical (Hebrew

and

Greek) names-like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Theophilus, tephen-

converts to Islam taking the Arabic forms of the names: Ibrahim, Isiaka,

Yakubu, Yusuf.

These names are not

Yoruba

names,

and

Yoruba

persons

who have such names usually have indigenous Yoruba names in addition.

They are likely to be called by the Yoruba names

at

home.

t is not easy for the Christian called

Abraham

to see that he has the

same name as the Muslim called Bimiimp; few people know

that

Isaac

[AisiikiJ =

isiakd,

that

Jacob

[Jeek9Qblt] =

Ydlolbil, Joseph [ J 0 6 s ~ ~ f u ]

Yeslifit,

David [Deefiidi] = Daudd, Moses [M66siisi] = Musa,

Gabriel e e b l i r i ~ l i ]

=

Jibrila,

etc. Even less easy is it for most people

to realise that many of the Hebrew

and

Arabic words in these Semitic

names have indigenous cognates in the

Yoruba

language antedating the

coming

of

Islam to Yorubaland or the planting of Christianity in Yoruba

land.

Thus DIu God had been in Y

oruba

land before Arabic 'al-lah

the (one

and

only) God , or the Hebrew'

El God

(in

Gabri-el, Dani-el,

Micha-el, Beth-el) was known to the Yoruba. And danu

mercy

had

been a Yoruba word before Hebrew

/.zanun

mercif ul came with the

Biblical name Yoha1:zun (John) Yo (Yahweh=Jehovah) is merciful .

Moses

M u s ~ i ,

the name of the greatest

of

the prophets of Israel, was

given

to

him in Egypt where he was born.

t

is the ancient Egyptian

word msi

to

give birth , mslV to be born which is found in the ancient

Egyptian names

Tuthmoses

begotten of Thoth ,

Rameses

begotten

of

Ra .

Moses, Tuthmoses

and

Rameses

have been popularised in their

Greek form with the Greek

-esj-s

noun ending.

Egyptian msi occurs indigenously in Yoruba

misi

found in

9Y9 nisi,

the title

of

the kingmakers at QY9, kingmakers by virtue of their being

begotten

at

QY9 ,

being descended from sons

of

the soil.

t

occurs in

1 The

Isaaki, Jak(Jbu, Jos( /lI, Dajidi,

]v[ose in the Yomba Bible do not reflect the actual

phonetic modification

of

the Biblical names in the speech of Yombas. The names

themselves have travened to Yombaland by a round-about route, via the Septuagint

and the Greek New Testament, the Latin Vulgate, and the English Bible from

where they were transliterated into the Yoruba Bible, where the Epistle

of

James

is

caned the Epistle

of Jak(Jbu

even though the Yoruba Christian with the name

James

is caned

Jeemiisi.

The

Jak(Jbll

for the James of the English Bible is a carry

over from the usage of the Greek New Testament.

64

65


36/57

Yoruba

mesi

found in

Afesi Ogp,

the nick-name

of

the people

of lbadan,

begotten

of

the hill , a reference to the devotion of the Ibadan people

to Oke 'badan

the lbadan

hill which, according to legend, ofTered

refuge to Lagelu, the founder

of

the city.

The first generation converts tended to throwaway everything in

the indigenous culture as pagan; only subsequently did it begin to dawn

on people

that God

in sundry times

and

places has revealed himself in

diverse forms. Bishop James Johnson, it is said, refused to christen babies

with Bible names which their pa rents desired in preference to the

pagan

Yoruba

names which were available to express the same sentiments ex

pressed in the Bible names.

t

was the semantic parallels which impressed

the bishop; he could hardly have known

that

the

Yoruba

language itself

was related to Hebrew

or

to Arabic.

2

Christianity and Islam have had at least on e effect on Yoruba names:

by persuading the

Yoruba

converts to reduce the number

of

divinities

they worshipped

to

only one, they have had the effect

of

reducing the

number of theophoric prefixes in the Yoruba names chosen for children

from Christian

and

Muslim homes-no more Ogllll-bL mmi, Fa-Mnmi ,

i pa-Yf

mi

, If.fun-Iqiya or r i ~ a f u n k : ; only

Olzi-bL mmi,

O l u ~ r u n : j d , Olu-/qiya,

O h i ~ r u n k :

The ancient variety

of

Yoruba

names

and

Yoruba worship is

preserved now in the names which have become fixed as

surnames

family names. Thus the OS{lnyln in the surname of the late Bishop

OS{ll yln indicates nothing

of

the religion

of

the bishop himself; it merely

shows the ancestral belief of his forefathers.

In ancient times every male Altiytillde would know how to play the

drums, every male

Oneib6M

would be skilled in some art, every male

i jflabi would be initiated into the cult of ancestral masks: religions and

professions ran in families. This made the babaldwo s question -

What

is your

name?

- meaningful.

What is

your

name? What

is the name

of

your father?

What

is the name

of

your

mother?

And a lot of background

information would have fallen into his hands.

t

was as it used to be in

1 L6gelrl itself, like other mythological names, is symbolically given: it breaks inio

L6-gelti. The first

is

the particle of ownership - of a thing

or

a quality. The second

palt

is

cognate with Hebrew

gal

mound, hill in

Gal Ed. L6gehi

means something

like

mountain nymph - the one on the hill.

2 See Modupv OduY9ye, Yoruba and Semitic Languages: Linguistic Relationship

in the Nigeria Magazine, No. 99 Dec. 1968.

66

England: every Smith was close to the smithy; every Mason came from

a family of builders; every Carpenter was connected with

that

trade.

Today, a Mr.

Mason

may be a fisherman

or

a lawyer, a

Mr.

Fisher may

be a smith, and a Mr. Fowler may not have hunted for game in his life.

The Yoruba believe

that

a person's name affects his behaviour:

they say, Onikr

f f {}

6, his name is having a psycological effect

on

his

behaviour. Whether one understands how this happens

or

not, the

responsibility for choosing a meaningful name for one's child

or

grand

child should still be a solemn undertaking.

For

the name one gives

to

one's child is the name the world will call him throughout life.

i

Williams, Moore, Syngle, Lucas, Fisher, Smith, Fowler are only a few of the English

surnames which can be found as surnames among the Yoruba. The explanation is to

be found

in

the history

of

the

Yoruba

contact with British missionaries first

in

Freetown, Sierra Leone, and subsequently in Abyokuta. The incidence

of

such

names is lherefore highest in these two places. Similarly, Portugue se surnames like

Branco, Perreira, Jacintha,

da

Rocha were actually brought back from

Brazil

reminders of the trans-Atlantic slave trade to South America and the return of the

exiles after the abolition of slavery. Most such names can be traced back to the

Brazilian quarters in Lagos. There

is

nothing funny about these foreign names;

they are a true reflection of significant events in the history of the bearers. Nor is

there anything funny

about

Mr Wood

or Mr

Stone: the reader may consult J. W.

Freeman's book, Discovering Surnames,

or

such manualS for their explanation.

67

enf.

M; i .

. tt

)


37/57

Diu "God"

(Lord, Master)

O l u f ~ m i

- Olu

mi

"God

loves me"

Oluszmya - Olu san iya

"God

avenges punishment"

Oh'ijinmi - Olu jin

mi

"God

gave me"

O l u k ~ m i

- Olu

mi

"God

pets

me"

0lllY9

mi

- Oill

Y9 mi

"God rescues

me"

Oluy¢misi - Olu

mi

si

"God

honours me"

OIUfunmiM - Olu fun mi

"God

gave me to

pet"

O I U r ~ m i l ~ k l l 1 1 - Olu

mi

I.. ykiln

"God

consoles me in

my

weeping"

011Il«ly¢d6 - Olu kit ay¢ de

"God

brought

joy"

O I l l ~ ~ g u n

Olu

ogun

"God won

a

victory"

O I M u n n ~ ¢

Olu

fUn mi

"God gave me to watch"

O l l l ~ ¢ Y < ;

-

01L1

¢Yl

"God

wrought a thing

of

dignity"

OIMelanu

Olu

1. aanu

"God

has mercy"

OlublIs(l!a - Oill bit sa

9lei

"God replenishes status"

OlubUkul1 < gel

"God

makes masters"

Olowa "Lord,

Master" (God)

Olliwasanmi

Oillwa"

san JIll

"The

Lord

is

beneficial

to me"

Olliwatosin

Oillwa II to i sin

"The

Lord is (big) enough to

worship"

QlQrun

"Owner

of

heaven, -

God"

QI¢runniillby

- QI¢run ni • ill by

It

is

God

who lives (for ever 7)"

Q I ¢ r u n f ~ l l 1 i

-

QI¢run" f¢

mi "God loves

me"

M o f 9 ¢ r u n ~ ¢

-

Mo f'

QI¢run

"I watch with the help of

God"

68

O r i ~ a

"Patron

saints, divinities"

\,

O r i ~ a w a y i

O r i ~ a g b e m i

-

O r i ~ a II

gbe

111i

O r i \ ~ a

supported

me"

Orl*

Orimol6ye

-

Od

mil 016ye

"The Orf

has foreknowledge of

the person destined to be chief"

Orimal


38/57

,


39/57

du names are almost all from I j ~ b u province.

O g u n ~ Q l a

- O g u n ~

Qla

Ogun

brought elevation

Oguntade

- Ogun t6 ade Ogun

is

as valuable as a crown

Seer, wizard OgunjQbi

- OgunjQ bi Ogun gave birth to all

of

us

$6mlde

$6wQle

$6yinkii

$6bande

$6weinde

$6wunmi

$6m¢Qrin

$6tunde

$6sanya

$6liirin

6 U l l l k ~

$6k¢ya

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

O ~ 6 m i d e

WQ ile

yi mi

kii

ba mi de

w i

mi de

wun mi

m¢ Qrin

ni anM

kQ iya

tun de

san iya

la

aarin

It is the seer

we

are petting

The seer champions the cause of

the suIfering

The

seer enters the house

Seers surround me

A

seer came with me

A seer came to look for

me

1 like visioners

The seer knows how to pick his

time

The

seer comes again

The seer repays an injury

The seer passes through the

middle

Here

comes my seer

O g u n ~ i n a

O g u n t i m ~ h i n

Ogunnuga

Ogungbe

Ogunrinde

Ogunbiyl

Ogunba

Ogl1l1mQd

y

de

O g u n k ~ y y

Ogunlade

OgunmQIa

O g u n d i p ~

Ogunt6yinb6

Ogun

¢na

- Ogun ti mi

I.)

- Ogun ni uga

- Ogun gbe m i

- Ogun rin de

- Ogun

bi

eyi

- Ogun ba

- Ogun mu Qdy de

- Ogun k6

- Ogun I' ad e

- Ogun

mQ Qla

- Ogun di

Ogun t6 oyinb6

Ogun brought dignity

Ogun

is

crown

Ogun

with

honour

Ogun substitutes for a ransom

Ogun is as strong as the white

nlen

Ogun

lifted (opened) the gate

Ogun backed me up

Ogun

has a palace

Ogun

is

propitiolls to

me

Ogun walked

here

Ogun gave birth to this one

Ogun lives

Ogun makes the hunter arrive

safe

$6litja

$6ya11l1wo

- la ija

- yan

mi

wo

The seer stopped the fighting

The

seer chose me on

trial

y

Hunter

K Q l e o ~ 6

6 t i k a r ~

J Q l a o ~ 6

$6riyan

$6diimLl

6 d i p ~

o r ~ m ~ k u n

- KQ

iIe

l ika

di i mLl

- di

- mi I.) ykun

-

ri yan

- J

y

QIci

The

seer found something to

choose

The seer held him

The

seer substitutes with a plea

The seer consoles me in my

weeping

Benefit from the status

of

the

seer

Build the house of a seer

Th e seer himself

AbQdyrin

Q d ~ b i y l

Q d ~ r i n d e

Q d ~ k u

Q d ~ y a l e

Q d ~ t Q l a

Q d ~ b u n m i

QdNina

Q d ~ g b a r o y e

- A-

ba

9d

y

rin

- Qd

y

bi

eyi

Qd

y

rin de

- Qd

y

•

ku

- Qd y • y a ile

- Qdy • t6 Qla

- Qdy • bim mi

- Qd

y

•

di ¢na

- Qdy • gbQ aroye

A hunter gave birth to this one

The

hunter walked to this place

There are hunters left

The hunter called in the house

Hunting

is

enough for status

The

hunter gave me

The hunter blocked the way

The hunter listened to com

plaints

Someone who walks with hun

Most names are ~ g c i They are also found in I j ~ b u R ~ m Q area.

ters

Ogun* kin Valiant warrior

Ogunlesi

O g u n ~ ~ y y

Ogun I' esi

Ogun

Ogun is our defence

Ogun wrought glory

AkinYyIe

- Akin.

yy

ile

A valiant

house

man lends glory to a

Akingbade

- Akin. gba ade

The valiant man takes the crown

Ogl/It is the god of iron, the patron of all who work with iron e.g. smiths the

Akinwunmi

- Akin. wun mi

I

like valiant men

god

of

war

and

the patron

of

hunters.

Akintunde

Akin.

tun

de

The valiant man comes again

72

7

~ ~ = ~

__

_ _

__

.

__

_

J

\1

I


40/57

I

Akinrin(>hi

Akint(>hi

Akinsanya

Akinlade

Akinniyi

A k i n l ~ y y

Akinjide

AkinY Ymi

Akfntciy¢

Akintoye

Akinluyi

AklnbQgun

A k i n p ~ l l I

Akint¢l11ide

Akinsanm

i

Aldnrele

- Akin .. rin (j)

Qla

- Akin. to 91a

- Akin

..

san iya

- Akin

. I a de

- Akin .. ni iyi

- Akin

II I

- Akin

iii ji

de

- Akin!fJ yet

- Akin

..

t6 ay¢

- Akin

..

to aye

-

Akin

I' Ilyi

- Akinilb¢ OMi) ogun

- Akin

..

p ~ l u

- Akin .. t¢

mi de

Akin .. san

l11i

- A ki n .. re

']C

AkinmUSlllJrU ---

A1li -- Akin

B

bii

Qlii

AkinQlii . Akin

Q/;i

Akinkligbe - Akin:ee kll gbe

Akinb¢l1Un - Akin:ee b¢ ohilD

Akfnt¢mf - Akin:ee t¢ i

AkinnigbagM Akin :ee ni igbagbe

Ogunmakind6 - Oglll1 mll

akin

de

O g u n n u i k i n w ~ i

Oglm ml\ akin

"The valiant man walks in honour"

"Valour

is enough

for

honour"

"Valiant men avenge insults"

"The valiant man arrives safe"

"Valour

has dignity"

"Valour

has

glory"

"The valiant man has come early"

"Valour

befits me"

"Valour

is

enough matter

for

joy"

"Valour

is enough for a title"

"Valour

is dignity"

"The valiant man is

back

[rom

war"

"The valiant

man

was one of

them"

'The

valiant

man came

after

me"

"Valour

is good for me"

"The valiant man went to his

house"

"The bold one exercises patience"

"The

valiant man

"The valiant man got home"

"The

valiant man did

"Valour goes very well with

honour"

"Valour of honour"

"Valiant

men do

not

die in vain"

"A valiant

man

does not give up"

"Valour

never let me down"

"Valiant deeds have no oblivion"

"Ogun

brought

the

warrior

back"

"Oglll1

brought

the warrior here"

Most kin

names are

Ondo

and

I j y ~ a No

girl

is

given

an kin

name.

Ogull

"War"

AdebQgun

-

AdiS b kim

- Qna II ba Olll

-

Qna

..

f¢

- Qna ..

i

mi

- Qna .. la ijil

- Ona . . M mi r6

- Qna II

He

- Qna

..

b¢

(lilti) iljO

- Qna. di

- Qna

..

ba

mi k¢

"The artist creates with the

hand"

"Art befits lords"

"Art

needs

learning"

"The profession of artist suits

me"

"Art settles the quarrel"

"Art stays with me"

"The

artist opens a house"

"The

artist returns from a journey"

"Art puts

in

a plea

with

a ransom"

"Art helps

me

to pet (this child)"

- Qna .. gun od uwa "Art is the cream of existence"

- Qna ' ko mi 0 )

aya

"Art emboldens

me"

-

Ade

b

na j "A

crown goes very well with art"

Ayi m

"The

sound

of

drums"

-

Ayan"

de ile

- Ayan

ail t6

Qla

Ayan ..

t6

llga

-

Ayan

nbel ad6

jQ

- Alayan" de

"The

drummer reaches home"

"Drumming is

enough

for honour"

"Drumming

is

as good as a

palace"

"Drumming goes very well with

royalty"

"Here

comes the master of drums"

Qya'

"Mother Niger"

- Qya WQ oye

"The Niger assumes a title"

- A-

ba

Qya de

"One who

arrives with the

Niger"

1 The River Niger being to the north of Y

oruba

land, Qya names are found among

the Northern Yorubil, in Qfa for instance.

75

;;;':'


41/57

Qpad¢tun

- Qpa d' ¢tun

"Plentiful

harvest becomes new"

> ~ u n l

"The O , ~ u n River"

Qla

Opa

Qla Opa

"The

elevated status concomitant

with plentiful harvest"

$Llllkunl6

O$un .. kun il6

O$un fills the house"

0$unt6ki

QI(Jpad6

QI(Jpa de

"Here

comes the devotee

of

the

O$un ..

t6

i kf

"The O ~ u n is enough

to

salute"

0 (\11 t6kun

god of plenty"

O$un • t6

ohm

"The O , ~ u n

River

is as big as

the

sea "

O$unniyi

O$un .. ni iyi

"The O$un

has

dignity"

~ f u n - Guardian of

the

fields

O Lll1k¢ya

O Ull •

k9 iya

"The O.yun champions

the

cause

J;:fUnyymi -J ; : fun • yy

mi "Worship

of

the

god

of

the

farms

of

the

suffering"

O$unbimmi

O$un • bUn mi

"The O$un gave me"

suits me"

J;:fUnk¢ya - J;:fun. k9 iya

"The

god of the farms rebuffs

rni "Water"

indignity"

k ~ f u n - 0$6 k r yfun

"The seer greets

the

god of the

Omikunl6

Omi"

kun

il6

"Water

fills the house"

farm"

(?)

Omit(Jla

- Omi . t6 91


42/57

Q1116b¢hi

Qm¢parf9I,i

Q

m

9 II bel 91ci nl il6

"The

child meets

honour

at home"

Q

m

9 pa ri 9la "Children complete one's high

Banj6ko

Bank¢le

Ba mij6ko

Ba mi kQ ile

"Sit down with me"

"Help me build the house"

Kik¢19 9

Kik¢ l' 9m9

state"

"Children are for petting"

Q

m

9

IaMk

¢

Kuj9

r

¢

Qm9

ni a iM k¢

Ikuj¢wQ r¢

"It's

a child we would have petted"

"Death spared him"

Kuyinnu

lku yin in nil

"Death

left him alone"

"The living one" KU$aanu

IkLl $e aanu

"Death was merciful"

KU$or6

lku $e or6

"Death

wrought a painful thing"

OJ¢dele

OJ¢

II

de ile ''OJ¢ arrives home"

Kurunmi

lku

run

mi

"Death

ruined

me"

OJ¢diran

OJ¢dokun

OJ¢ ii d' iran

OJ¢'' d'

ohm

''OJ¢ becomes hereditary"

''OJ¢ becomes the sea"

KUforiji

Kuk9yi

- lkLl foriji

-

lku

k9 eyi

"Death pardoned"

"Death refused this on e"

l ~ i m ¢

- lku $i i m )

"Death could

not

recognise

him"

Kuy¢bi

lku yy ¢bi

"Death

removed the guilt"

Eeglm "Ritual masks, ancestral masks"

~ i w ¢ k i l

'wQ iIeu

"Take

(your) hands off dying"

I

(stop dying)

Eegllllj9

bi

- E6gllll j9 bi

Eegu/1

gave birth to

al1

of us"

Abegunde

A-

ba

eegun de

"One who comes with the eegu/1

E6gunyc;mi

Eegun

yC;

mi

Eegzl/1 fits me"

Aye)

"Joy"

'Tunde Reincarnation

AY9" de il6

"Joy reaches (our) home"

AY9d6le

Babatunde

Baba"

tun de

"Father

comes a second time"

AY9 II

d'

eji

"Joy

becomes two"

AY9

de

ji

Yetund6

lye II tun d6

"Mother comes a second time"

AY9

rIn

de

Ay¢ II rin de

"Joy walks in"

ly,ibe)

Iya be)

"Mother

returns"

Ql11¢t,iye)

Qn19 II t6

aY9

"Children are enough cause for

Babatunji

Baba II tlm ji

"Father

wakes up again"

joy"

Babajid6

Baba IIji de

"Father

is awake and is here"

Temit,iY9

Ti emi II t6 ay


43/57

Ad6dam¢lei

Ad6m¢la

Ad6beink¢

Ad6bllk¢nlei

Adetunji

Ad6dap¢

Ad6bay¢

Ad6weil6

Ad6klm16

Ad6goke

Adegor6ye

Ad6s9ji

d r ~ m i

d f ~ m i

d ~ [ n a

de Crown

The

crown is resuscitated

Crowns affiliate

- Ad6 tunji

- Ad6

dap¢

- Ad6 ba ayo

- Ad6 wei il6 'The crown comes home

- Ad6 kun ile Crowns fill the house

- Ad6 gun oke Crowns ascend a hill

- Ade

gun

ori oye

The

crown ascends to a title

- Ade

S9

ji The crown is revived

- Ad6

mi

1111 ykllll) The crown consoles me

- Ad6

f¢

mi The crown loves

me

- Ade

¢na The

crown lifts the barrier on

the way

The crown is mixed with status

A crown and honourable estate

The crown helps me to pet

The crown completes status

- Ad6 da m¢

91ei

- Ad6 m¢ 91a

- Ade

ba

mi

k¢

- Ad6 bU kun 91ei

Ad6b(maj9

v < 7 c i ~ a d c

Ad6iye

Ad6nrel6

Ad6deji

Ad6bUs6ye

Ad6gb9

1ci

Ad6ribigbe

Ad6gb6yega

Ad6b6yej9

Ad61abU

Adebajo

Ad6niyi

Adeniji

Ad6

ba

oye

j9

- Ad6 ba 9

na

j9

- F'

91ci

ade

- Ade iye

- Ad6 n re 16

- Ad6 di eji

- Ad6 btl si oye

- Ad6 gba

91ei

-

AM i

ibi gbe

- Ad6 gbe oye ga

- Adela iM

- Ad6 b¢ (Wi) a jo

- Ad6 n i iyi

- Ad6 ni iji

A

crown has dignity

A crown has refuge (for the

oppressed)

The crown crossed deep waters

The crown returns from a jour

ney

A crown of salvation

The

crown is going home

The

crowns become

two

A crown adds to a title

The crown takes status

The crown finds a place to live

A crown raises a chieftaincy

high

A crown well complements a

title

A crown fits in well with

art

Make a crown out of honour

Ad6bisi

- Ade bi si

The crown gives birth to more

Adebimp6

Ad6peju

Ad6 bi 111i p6

- Ad6 pe oju

The crown begat me whole

The

crown is full value

Iga/uga

courtyard, palace

Ad6j9k¢

Ad6doyin

Adeloro

Ad691ei

Adeyc,:mi

Ad6yinkei

- Adej9 k¢

- Ade di oyin

- Ad6

taro

- Ad691ei

- Ad6 yc :

mi

- Ad6 yi mi

k:i

Crowns join

in

petting

Crowns become honey (sweet)

The crown

is

peaceful

The

crown

of honour

The crown befits me

Crowns surround me

Ademlga

ayenuga

Bisuga

Leid6ga

Hyiga

- Ad6 nl lluga

-

aye n l

u g ~ t

- A-

bi

si uga

- Qla

d6

iga

- Ifa

yf

iga

A crown has a palace

A title has a palace

Born in a palace

Status reaches a palace

Ifa builds a (round) courtyard

Adepojll

- Ad6poju

There are too many crowns

A d 6 J ~ g u n

- Ade mu

glm

The Crown

stable

makes the land

Oba King

Ad6kanmbi

AMgbit¢

- Ad6

kin mi

bi?

- Ad6 gba it¢

Is it my turn to the crown ? (?)

The crown takes a throne

Qbaf¢mi

- Qba

II f¢ l11i

The king loves me

Ad6k¢ya - - Ade k9 iya

The

crown rebuffs insults

Ad6day¢ - Ad6 di ay¢

Ad6muwagun - Ade mu iwa gun

The crown becomes joy

The crown makes character

Oyc

titled posts

Adeyym9

Ad60ye

Adeniran

- Ade

yy 9m9

- Ad60ye

- Ad6 ni iran

straight

A crown befits a child

A crown of title (titular)

Crowns have pedigree

ayekan

ayetund6

ayebanji

- aye

II kan mi

- aye .. tun d6

- aye III ba mi j i

It is my turn to the title

A title has come again

The title has been with me since

my waking

up

81

80

-

Q ~ i

baodu "Chief ta incy fits the o racle"


44/57

Oyekunle

- Oye. .kunile

"Titles

fill

thehouse"

OyeyipQ

- Oye .. yip¢

"Titles roll together"

O y e ~ i n a

- Oye..

Qna

A

titleopenstheway"

Oyenuga

- Oye. .ni uga

"Titleshavepalaces"

O y e l ~ s y

- Oye..

Iii

ySy

"Titles have rank and hierarchy"

Oyeniran

- Oye..

ni

iran

"Titleshavepedigree"

Oyeniyi

- Oye..

ni

iyi

Titles havedignity"

Oyediran

- Oye. .di i ran

The titles becomeshereditary"

Oyemade

- -

Oye

II

m¢ade "Thetitleconjoinswithacrown"

y e n m ~

- Oye

II ni a m ~

"Titleshavesymbols"

Oyeb¢de

- Oye..

bQ de

The

titlehascomeroundagain"

OyeYymi

- Oye

iii Yv mi

The title fits me"

Oyesilllya

- Oye. .saniya

The titleavengessuffering"

Oyegoke

- - Oye..gun

6U

"The titleascendsa hill"

Oyeb¢la

- Oye .. ba < >lci

CiQ)

A

title agrees well with status"?

Oyebolll

- Oye

ii ba

Olu(jQ)

A

title

fits God

Oyel¢wQ

- ye I QWQ

"Titles haverespect"

Qlcidunjoye

--

Qla

dLll ju

aye

"Status

is

sweeterthan chieftaincy

titles"

Ogunt6ye

-

Ogll11

t6aye

"Og(1Il

is

enoughforatitle"

OlMoye

-

111 t6aye

God

is sufficientfor

titles

Adeloye

- Ade

l'

aye

A

crown

is

the mark

of

chief

taincy"

Q ~ i b d i l

-

Q ~ i

yaile

The

chiefcalled

in

thehouse"

Q ~ i y a J e

Q ~ i b Q w a l e

-

Q ~ i

b¢wa 'Ie

The

chiefreturnedhome"

Q ~ i k o m a i y a

-

Q ~ i

k6

mi

0 )

aya

The

chiefenboldenedme"

-

II b ~ r u

'The chieffears"

Q ~ i k a n l u

- Q ~ i kanOllt "Chieftaincy appertains to divi

nity"

Q ~ n a j a

-

la ija

The

chiefsettlesthequarrel"

Q ~ i f Q d l J ] f i n

-

..f' Qdun rin

"The chief selected the time

of

thefestivaltotakeatrip"

Q ~ r b ~ r i l

O ~ i n

namesare almost

all

Ijybu. Inthatdialect, anattenuation

of

nasalizationisincipient:hence O ~ i

Qili "Elevatedstatus,fame,honourableestate"

Q l a ~ e n i

- Qhi

i

ni

Fame

is notunachievable"

- Q!


45/57

Ql


46/57

cord

twined

around

their neck. Of

the

two names, the Ijybu use only Aina;

for it is proverbial

that

IjfbU ki fit oj6, "Ijybus never bear the name D6.

6 Children whose hair are

knotted

together around the crown of the

head are called Dada.

The

hair must be left like that until ceremonially

cut.

7.

Qri

is the name

of

children conceived soon after a previous birth,

before resumption of menstruation.

8

- which means

"sack"

-

is

the name

of

a child

born wrapped

up in a thin membrane - the amniotil sac.

9. The following names mentioned before are determined

by

the

circumstances of the birth of the

child:

AbfPdun, Ab(5dl'inrin, Abfpl1a,

AbfrSf, AbpsMe.

10. The first

of

twins to "taste

of

the world"

is

Taiwo; the one who

"comes last" is

~ h i n d e

11.

The

third of triplets is

:;ta

oko

but the child is not generally called

3

by this "title". f:;ta is "three"; for oko see Hausa

ukil "three".

12. Counting Tafwo as one, Kt hinde as two, the child born after a set

Documents

Yoruba-names Modupe Oduyoye