Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,143,400 members, 7,781,154 topics. Date: Friday, 29 March 2024 at 09:55 AM

Ìkíní - Greetings In Yoruba - Culture - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Culture / Ìkíní - Greetings In Yoruba (26260 Views)

Female Regents In Yoruba Land. / Oruko Amutorunwa (generic Names In Yoruba Culture) / Mrs Dike An Igbo Citizen To Become The First Female OBA In Yoruba (2) (3) (4)

(1) (Reply) (Go Down)

Ìkíní - Greetings In Yoruba by Mustay(m): 9:18am On Nov 18, 2013
Se daada ni mo ba yin?

Often times, people wonder why Yorubas like greetings. 'Eku this, eku that', even some have made a joke out of this. Some asked, Is Greeting Strangers Part Of Yoruba Culture? Even some Yoruba children wonder why there are so many greetings.

So, I would be writing out notes from P.O. Ogunbowale's book, 'Asa Ibile Yoruba' published in 1966.

This is chapter 8 that deals with greetings. Ìkíní means greetings in Yoruba. I would translate excerpts from the introduction and continue the greetings (whenever I have the time) in subsequent posts in Yoruba language.

Enjoy!


It is quite unfortunate that a visitor would visit Yoruba land and see the way we (do not) greet ourselves. This is not saying Yorubas are jobless or what-have-you; this goes to show that we love ourselves or people that are around us.

Greetings are very important in the life of a Yoruba individual. The way an individual greets others shows the product of his/her home-training. Because of this, an individual is groomed (by parents/guardians) from his/her childhood days on how to greet. There are different types of greetings for different purposes - rain, dawn, death, marriage etc; all of these one has to know. Anyone who knows not the difference(s) or who has to be thinking before s/he knows what to say shows s/he lacks home training or who was trained from home but refused to heed to lessons taught (akooigba).

If somebody notices that 2 individuals do not greet themselves, it is the duty of such person as a Yoruba to call both and inquire what happened. If it something s/he cannot arbitrate, s/he must tell the elderly to settle the dispute amongst the two. If in such a case, we ignore the 2 individuals, it could cause major fights, separation between families or death (because both have disputes). If you say you don't care, remember the proverb that "Bi ara ile ẹni ba nje kòkòrò, bi a ko ba sọ fun, hùrùhẹrẹ re kò ni jẹki a sùn l'oru".

On most occasions, we hear Yoruba people greeting others with 'Ẹ pẹlẹ o'. This greeting has other meanings to others. For example, if you use 'Ẹ pẹlẹ' in Abẹokuta that means someone's child/wife died or something unfortunate occurred to the receiver's family but when visitors started settling in the city, Ẹgba people became tolerant/accustomed to such and realized such people were only greeting them. Actually, 'Ẹ pẹlẹ' is a greeting used to call someone's attention or to check if someone is at home.

There was a time I went to visit a man whose aged grandmother just died. We all know that if someone's grandma dies, it is 'ókú ẹ̀bà ati ẹran ni' aka fanfare (for lack of a better word). A lady came in to greet the family. She said:

"Ẹ pẹlẹ o, ẹ ku iledè iya agbà o; Oluwa ko ni jẹki a ri iru rẹ̀ mọ o.
(Sorry o, greetings on the going home or passage of our mother; God will not let us witness such again o).

Her statements were well intended but the last statement left so much to be desired. When she said, 'Oluwa ko ni jẹki a ri iru rẹ̀ mọ o' (God will not let us witness such again o), ṣe oku ọmọde ni o fẹ ki o mā rí ni? (is it the death of a child she wants him to witness?) shocked grin

This lady did not intend harm, it was the way she knew it that she said it. Hence, a list of greetings and responses are compiled herein. We believe it is useful to those who know not how to greet in our land.

There are 3 important things to note:

1. First, greetings can be part of a statement/sentence, the response is 'O'.

2. Secondly, greetings could be a form of prayer, the response is 'Amin o.'

3. Thirdly, greetings could be a form of inquiry/questioning, the response would be tailored according to the situation of things at the time.


PS: The book has no copyright infringement -ishes so all what I post here are not in violation of the author's permissions!

3 Likes 2 Shares

Re: Ìkíní - Greetings In Yoruba by Mustay(m): 9:43am On Nov 18, 2013
Ni asiko Òjò (When it rains):
Idahun (Response)

Ẹ ku òjò o
O!

Ẹ ku ọ̀rinrin yi o
O!

Ẹ ku ọ̀gìnnìtin yi o
O!



Ni asiko Otútù (When the weather is cold):
Idahun (Response)

Ẹ ku otutu yi o
O!

Ẹ ku ọyẹ́ yi o
O!


Ni asiko ìyàn, ti ko si onjẹ (During famine):
Idahun (Response)

Ẹ ku ọ̀gbẹlẹ̀ yi o
O!

Ẹ ku ìyàn yi o
O!

Oluwa k’ o f’oriji wa o
A mbẹ̀ Ẹ o.

Oluwa k’ o kó wa yọ o
Amin o
Re: Ìkíní - Greetings In Yoruba by ladionline: 12:11pm On Nov 18, 2013
Eku aajo Yoruba o, a a rere oun rere mubo tibe o, aayan-ogbifo a gbewa o, awon alale a je ko ju se funwa o, ilumoye a sanwa sowo, somo ati aiku pari iwa o. Toto, Aro a romo, ase.
Re: Ìkíní - Greetings In Yoruba by Nobody: 12:33pm On Nov 18, 2013
@op,olodunmare a fun yin se oo,,eseun gan
omo yoruba ni mi
ile yoruba ni won bi mi si
ile yoruba ni mo dagba si
igbomina yoruba ni mi pelu
mi o si ni fi owo osi juwe ile baba mi
ile yoruba oni baje oOO
Aseeee!!!

2 Likes

Re: Ìkíní - Greetings In Yoruba by tpia5: 9:12pm On Nov 20, 2013
Never mind, i meant the other guy who has better manners.

Dont know why i mixed up the names.
Re: Ìkíní - Greetings In Yoruba by Mustay(m): 9:58am On Nov 21, 2013
tpia@:
Op i think you're hausa.

Just curious, do you speak yoruba or maybe you live in the sw?

ALL join! cool
Re: Ìkíní - Greetings In Yoruba by AkinolaLady(f): 9:21pm On Jul 27, 2017
Hi! Maybe I am not doing a very thorough search, but I can't seem to find this book available for purchase? Do you know where I might find the book?

Thank you!

(1) (Reply)

Tafida Bawo: Emir Of Rano Suspends District Heads, Strips Them Of Titles / Ikeja Installs New Monarch, Begins Traditional Rites For 9-Year Empty Palace / Okere-urhobo Festival Of Unity, Warri 2017.

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 16
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.