I'm an American who does know much about Nigeria, or Africa as a whole. Anyway, my friend is an Igbo, and he tells me that there are many different dialects of Igbo; some so different that you can hardly understand some if your ears aren't used to it.

With that being said, I want to know if there are differences in Yoruba dialects, and I want to know the extent of it.

Bear in mind that I'm a Yoruba illiterate (Maybe I should take a course here at my university!), so please compare common phrases and examples.

Thank you!

Yes Yoruba, just like most African languages, has dialects. Some of its dialects include Ijebu Yoruba, Egba Yoruba, Ibadan Yoruba, Lagos Yoruba, Ekiti Yoruba (the toughest to decipher so I hear) with Oyo/Ibadan version of Yoruba being the standard written and widely spoken version all over Yoruba land.

If I may ask, are you african american? I see that you have deep interest in Nigerian culture and languages. Did you take the DNA ancestry test lately?

bigfrancis21:
Yes Yoruba, just like most African languages, has dialects. Some of its dialects include Ijebu Yoruba, Egba Yoruba, Ibadan Yoruba, Lagos Yoruba, Ekiti Yoruba (the toughest to decipher so I hear) with Ibadan version of Yoruba being the standard written and widely spoken version all over Yoruba land.

If I may ask, are you african american? I see that you have deep interest in Nigerian culture and languages. Did you take the DNA ancestry test lately?

Yes, I am African American. And no, I haven't taken a DNA test, but I really want to. I'll have to make an appointment soon.

CluelessGuy:


Yes, I am African American. And no, I haven't taken a DNA test, but I really want to. I'll have to make an appointment soon.

Ok bro. I thought you had done one already with your result pointing to Nigerian (Igbo) origin. We've had many AAs and Afro-Carribean people in the past that had taken the test and joined this thread to learn more about their Igbo or Yoruba ancestry.

I'm looking forward to hearing the result of your DNA test!

bigfrancis21:


Ok bro. I thought you had done one already with your result pointing to Nigerian (Igbo) origin. We've had many AAs and Afro-Carribean people in the past that had taken the test and joined this thread to learn more about their Igbo or Yoruba ancestry.

I'm looking forward to hearing the result of your DNA test!

I wish lol, I'm interested in Igbo culture because my best friend is Igbo, and he lover talking about it. He says that he's from Nigeria, but he was born here in the US, I don't know how that works. Is that true?

[quote
author=bigfrancis21 post=33348679]Yes Yoruba, just like most African
languages, has dialects. Some of its dialects include Ijebu Yoruba, Egba
Yoruba, Ibadan Yoruba, Lagos Yoruba, Ekiti Yoruba (the toughest to
decipher so I hear) with Ibadan version of Yoruba being the standard
written and widely spoken version all over Yoruba land.

If I may ask, are you african american? I see that you have deep
interest in Nigerian culture and languages. Did you take the DNA
ancestry test lately?[/quote]



People always fail to mention the Yagba Yoruba spoken in Kogi state, it has a close resemblance to the Ijebu Yoruba, it takes a native to decipher the difference.

bigfrancis21:
Yes Yoruba, just like most African languages, has dialects. Some of its dialects include Ijebu Yoruba, Egba Yoruba, Ibadan Yoruba, Lagos Yoruba, Ekiti Yoruba (the toughest to decipher so I hear) with Ibadan version of Yoruba being the standard written and widely spoken version all over Yoruba land.

If I may ask, are you african american? I see that you have deep interest in Nigerian culture and languages. Did you take the DNA ancestry test lately?

Bolded is wrong.

Nsukka igbo is the standard written and spoken Igbo all over Igbo land.

https://www.nairaland.com/2270917/list-yoruba-dialects

OP, hopefully you will find what you seek in the link above.

MrPresident1:


Bolded is wrong.

Nsukka igbo is the standard written and spoken Igbo all over Igbo land.

Isn't Oyo Yoruba, more precisely Ibadan dialect, the used as the standardized Yoruba orthography in yoruba land?

Princess4eva:




People always fail to mention the Yagba Yoruba spoken in Kogi state, it has a close resemblance to the Ijebu Yoruba, it takes a native to decipher the difference.

I am not Yoruba, I may not know by heart all Yoruba dialects. I am only familiar with the ones I mentioned previously.

bigfrancis21:


Isn't Oyo Yoruba, more precisely Ibadan dialect, the used as the standardized Yoruba orthography in yoruba land?

Oyo Yoruba is the standard. Ibadan dialect is not the standard.

Ibadan is a latter town made up of different Yoruba tribes.

CluelessGuy:


I wish lol, I'm interested in Igbo culture because my best friend is Igbo, and he lover talking about it. He says that he's from Nigeria, but he was born here in the US, I don't know how that works. Is that true?

Yea, looking at it from the Nigerian angle - one's ancestry is determined differently from what is obtained in the US. In US, you are automatically from the place you were born at, irrespective of ancestral origins. For example, Cordozza born in Los Angeles is automatically conisdered as being from LA even though ancestrally he is hispanic from Costa Rica. However, this is different in Nigeria. Ancestry is based on one's father's origins and in Nigeria everybody has a village or place or original land where his paternal forefathers settled in since olden times and thus you have ancestral ties to that land and you as a person is from that place no matter where in Nigeria or abroad you were born at. Let me use US as an example to make it clear to you, if your paternal ancestors settled in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore automatically becomes your village or town or where you are from - ancestral ties, irrespective of whether you were born in Alabama, Texas or Hawaii. You, through your ancestors, have ancestral ties to that particular place or spot. For Nigerians, ancestry is paternally determined - you are from your father's village. Thus, in Nigeria, a person born to an Igbo father (from Anambra state, though he may be born in Lagos state) but Yoruba mother (from Oyo state but born in the UK) is considered Igbo and treated as such.

Therefore, your friend was correct when he said he is from Nigeria.

I think the reason the method of identification in US is different is becaue the US is a land of immigrants - whites and blacks. Thus, no immigrant can claim ancestral ties to land originally belonging to the native indians.

MrPresident1:


Oyo Yoruba is the standard. Ibadan dialect is not the standard.

Ibadan is a latter town made up of different Yoruba tribes.

Oyo is a state, comprising of several local governments and their dialects, including Ibadan, and I thought it odd to refer to standard yoruba orthography as 'oyo yoruba' as it if were one uniform dialect spoken all over the state when in actuality, they are many of them. Thus, I felt that 'Ibadan dialect' (Ibadan being the capital of Oyo and being the urban centre of the state) to have been more proper to use in that context.

MrPresident1:


Oyo Yoruba is the standard. Ibadan dialect is not the standard.

Ibadan is a latter town made up of different Yoruba tribes.

How I wish we are conscious of the fact that Ibadan is as old as any other ancient Yoruba city-State you can think of. They have hierachical (as opposed to inheritance) system of government, which may hold key to understanding what may have obtain before monarchical system of government in historical Yoruba.

MrPresident1:
https://www.nairaland.com/2270917/list-yoruba-dialects

OP, hopefully you will find what you seek in the link above.

Yes it does, thank you.

bigfrancis21:


Yea, looking at it from the Nigerian angle - one's ancestry is determined differently from what is obtained in the US. In US, you are automatically from the place you were born at, irrespective of ancestral origins. For example, Cordozza born in Los Angeles is automatically conisdered as being from LA even though ancestrally he is hispanic from Costa Rica. However, this is different in Nigeria. Ancestry is based on one's father's origins and in Nigeria everybody has a village or place or original land where his paternal forefathers settled in since olden times and thus you have ancestral ties to that land and you as a person is from that place no matter where in Nigeria or abroad you were born at. Let me use US as an example to make it clear to you, if your paternal ancestors settled in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore automatically becomes your village or town or where you are from - ancestral ties, irrespective of whether you were born in Alabama, Texas or Hawaii. You, through your ancestors, have ancestral ties to that particular place or spot. For Nigerians, ancestry is paternally determined - you are from your father's village. Thus, in Nigeria, a person born to an Igbo father (from Anambra state, though he may be born in Lagos state) but Yoruba mother (from Oyo state but born in the UK) is considered Igbo and treated as such.

Therefore, your friend was correct when he said he is from Nigeria.

I think the reason the method of identification in US is different is becaue the US is a land of immigrants - whites and blacks. Thus, no immigrant can claim ancestral ties to land originally belonging to the native indians.

Ohh, okay, thank you. Sometimes he gets into big arguments with people because people tell him that he's from America, and his parents are from Nigeria. It's good to know this now though. So is it all that in other places in Africa? Or do you not know?

in Nigeria, your ancestral land from your fathers side determines where you are from and not where you are born. It is embedded in our mentality and culture. So your friend is right when he says he is Nigerian even though he is an American citizen.

CluelessGuy:


Ohh, okay, thank you. Sometimes he gets into big arguments with people because people tell him that he's from America, and his parents are from Nigeria. It's good to know this now though. So is it all that in other places in Africa? Or do you not know?

CluelessGuy:


Ohh, okay, thank you. Sometimes he gets into big arguments with people because people tell him that he's from America, and his parents are from Nigeria. It's good to know this now though. So is it all that in other places in Africa? Or do you not know?

Black africa, in general, tends to be paternalistic.

bigfrancis21:


Oyo is a state, comprising of several local governments and their dialects, including Ibadan, and I thought it odd to refer to standard yoruba orthography as 'oyo yoruba' as it if were one uniform dialect spoken all over the state when in actuality, they are many of them. Thus, I felt that 'Ibadan dialect' (Ibadan being the capital of Oyo and being the urban centre of the state) to have been more proper to use in that context.

I hope you are not trying to assume authority over issues that beyond your purview.

Oyo Yoruba is not confined to Oyo state, and is not demarcated by Nigerian state boundaries. And Oyo Yoruba actually is the Yoruba spoken in Ibadan, but It is wrong to call it Ibadan dialect.

absoluteSuccess:
How I wish we are conscious of the fact that Ibadan is as old as any other ancient Yoruba city-State you can think of. They have hierachical (as opposed to inheritance) system of government, which may hold key to understanding what may have obtain before monarchical system of government in historical Yoruba.

I am not sure how Ibadan was founded but I think it was formerly an Egba town, I think it initially was sacked by the Ijebus. Their hierarchical system of leadership came about because warriors just came together to found the new town which now became a garrison and a foremost military town. A town of warriors.

MrPresident1:


I am not sure how Ibadan was founded but I think it was formerly an Egba town, I think it initially was sacked by the Ijebus. Their hierarchical system of leadership came about because warriors just came together to found the new town which now became a garrison and a foremost military town. A town of warriors.

My old friend, you're on point. The Ijebu/Ibadan feud is well attested to in Yoruba history. To a great extent the account is enshrined in the oriki Iba Oluyole-Igbo, irin wowo wi, aseburuku-serere. Iran Eegun kan o de'Jebu ri, Iba lo mEegun wo'gbo remo.

MrPresident1:


I am not sure how Ibadan was founded but I think it was formerly an Egba town, I think it initially was sacked by the Ijebus. Their hierarchical system of leadership came about because warriors just came together to found the new town which now became a garrison and a foremost military town. A town of warriors.

My old friend, you're on point. The Ijebu/Ibadan feud is well attested to in Yoruba history. To a great extent the account is enshrined in the oriki Iba Oluyole-Igbo, irin wowo wi, aseburuku-serere. Iran Eegun kan o de'Jebu ri, Iba lo mEegun wo'gbo remo. If you are keen with certain oriki, your Yoruba history will keep harmonizing like jigsaw puzzle.

bigfrancis21:


I am not Yoruba, I may not know by heart all Yoruba dialects. I am only familiar with the ones I mentioned previously.

Now you know.

MrPresident1:


Oyo Yoruba is the standard. Ibadan dialect is not the standard.

Ibadan is a latter town made up of different Yoruba tribes.

And what Yoruba sub-clans are these?