H P

KN N

There are twenty five (25) alphabets in Yoruba language. They are: B D W Y. NOTE k : F G GB H I J K L M N O P S U

Letters like, c, q, v, x and z are not among Yoruba alphabets.

How to Pronounce the Alphabets:

The Yoruba Alphabets Similar Pronunciation In English

A B D E F G GB H I

ah bee dee hay air fee gee (as in go) (has no English similarity) hee ee

J K L M N O P R S T U W Y

jee key lee mee nee oh or pee ree see she tea ooh wee yee

Yoruba Vowels - wn awli oruba Yoruba alphabets contains only seven (7) vowels, namely:

a a (ah) e (hay)

(air)

i (ee) o (oh) (or) u (ooh)

In the same vein there are eighteen (18) consonants: Yoruba Consonants - wn n n n oruba

b d f g gb h j k l m n p r s t w y Lets make some two letter words, using consonant + vowel. orming wo- e er ord k wn r n- j

b = ba (bah) be(bay) b (bair) bi (bee) bo (boh) b(bor) bu(boo) d = da (dah) de(day) d (dair) di (dee) do (doh) d(dor) du(boo) f = fa (fah) fe(fay) f (fair) fi (fee) fo (foh) f(for) fu(foo)

g = ga (gah) ge(gay) g (gair) gi (gee) go (go) g(gor) gu(goo) h = ha (hah) he(hay) h (hair) hi (hee) ho (hoh) h(hor) hu(hoo) wa (wah) we(way) w (wair) wi (wee) wo (woh) w(wor) wu(woo) ETC

By yourself, form more of these two-letter words with the remaining consonants; gb, j, k, l, m, etc

TONAL MARKS: The tone marks adopted to help in pronouncing Yoruba words are the first three musical notes; do re mi do is the low tone. he sign representing this is re is the medium tone. It has no sign representation

mi is the high tone. he sign representing this is *These tone marks are strictly placed on Yoruba vowels, except in few in ance he are u ed on le er n For instance, try to call these common words below. Let the tones in the brackets above guide you. Pronounce the corresponding tone mark before pronouncing the word.

BRAINWORK
WORD (i). Come w (ii). Child m (iii). A name Ad iv . ooked garri b TONE mi re re re mi do do w m Ad b

These are five nasal vowels, namely: an, n, in, n, un

The Nasals

How to Pronounce

i. ii. iii.

-an -n -in

e.g. san to pay e.g. yn that e.g. dn to fry

is pronounced sun is pronounced (Japanese)Yen is pronounced as dean

iv.

-n

e.g. pn to be ripe is pronounced the same as an in (i) above. e.g. fn to give as fun is pronounced as foon and not

v.

-un

BRAINWORK Now try and pronounce the words below.

1.

rn to sew; s n orange yn that pn to divide; sn to sneeze fn to blow [a trumpet] fn mosquito sn to sleep; sn to shift; s n yn - That orange.

yn to yawn; hn - yes rn to walk pn to be ripe sun to burn

2. 3. 4.

5. 6.

SINGULAR AND PLUR

The article wn is used to express plurality of Yoruba nouns. For instance: s n orange fn mosquito m - child p wn s n - oranges wn fn - mosquitoes wn m - children

il house nyn person

wn il - houses wn ny n persons/people