₦airaland Forum

macof:
Please what do you wven mean by large percentage of yorubas are non-hamitic ?
Although the term "hamitic" is archaic and obsolete I still understand what you mean by that but answer my question in bold

If Yorubas had some significant "non African population " years of living together and intermarriage would show in the DNA analyses
You cannot say the foreigners have remained "unmixed" with the others
...oh wait...maybe you can sef. Cus you have a reputation for thinking upside down

So please...ebe no o ikunle ni mo wa. Answer the question

And the please I got my information is archaic right? Ok please provide the recent study...

Ogbeni keep quiet with this blab about truth. Which truth without common sense or evidence?

He's obviously not Yoruba since he's Semitic. He needs to go to Saudi Arabia and trace his family line.

oyatz:
Even the Ibolo dialect grew out of the Oyo dialect.


Offa, Erin-Ile, Konta, Okuku, Inisha and may be Ikirun may be Ibolo.

All the towns I listed speak Oyo dialect

Ibolo dialect did not grew out of Oyo, because Oyo absorbed Ibolo speakers.

Historically, towns like Ejigbo, Ede, and Osogbo were Ibolo.

oyatz:
Ibadan ,Oyo town, Ogbomosho, Ede, Iwo,Ikire,Ejigbo and the real Oshogbo all speak the Oyo dialect.

Not all the towns listed are native/historically Oyo-speaking. Don't confuse Oyo with Ibolo. Also, everyone these days can communicate in Oyo.

Probz:
Lol. Weird’s obviously a tongue-in-cheek expression. You know what I’m saying.

Interesting still. I get that feeling with Eastern Yorubas, I know what you’re saying. It’s always freaking to meet an Ekitian after tons of Osun/Oyo/Abeokuta people. They’re a little more distinct even apart from their dialect.

Yes, "weird" in that sense, but they are just speaking naturally. I just don't like that some people think it's weird, because that's what they've always known their language to be, so it's not for others to judge nor for them to change to satisfy others. But, let's face it, those dialects are in serious danger of going extinct as less and less people, especially younger generation use them. People are already switching to Standard Yoruba or other languages. Part of the problem is perception of others who think they are not speaking proper. I see it all the time.

This problem can be fixed if people have a different attitude, take more pride in their identity and encourage their usage in daily life, in writing, on street sign, things like that. But that's unlikely to happen seeing how Nigeria is. When has Nigeria (government and people alike) seriously cared about any form of preservation. Nigerians don't care about land preservation, animal preservation, resource preservation, yet alone care about something like language preservation. Many Nigerians speak more "English" than the oyinbos themselves, yet can't communicate in their own dialect. They westernize every single part of their life and corrupt their traditions and languages. Before you know it, many dialects will be lost to history. It's only a matter of time. That's the way it's has always been. It's happening all over Nigeria. Many Nigerian languages have already gone extinct or in the process. They are just a mere speck in the forgotten timeline of history. I went on a little bit of a tangent, but that's just my opinion.

By the way, you can understand more of Eastern Yoruba by listening carefully. You'll start to notice the similarities or things you recognize the more you listen. Also, just a little side note, Ekiti isn't Eastern, maybe it falls slightly East of Yorubaland geographically, but it's not an Eastern dialect per say. It's a central (transitioning) dialect made up of many local variants. Can you elaborate more on your last sentence?

AlderFadington:
That's interesting because some speculate that abagayawas were north African Berbers (not that it matters). But overall Hausas and Berbers have had very fruituitous relationships for most of the last millenia so it's no surprise that of all afro Asiatic speakers berbers seem closest to us.

But that being said I'm not a fan of tracing the past. History is what it Is, history. No need for dwelling on it. What matters now is that we have our identity and should be content with it. No need having to go back and dig up what happened in the past I mean to what end? Here and now we are Hausas, and we speak Hausa, everything that happened in between is useless as far as I'm concerned.

Yes these are just theories. Yes I agree, you shouldn't dwell on history, however you should learn about it. History helps one understand the world we live in.

Hati13:
AlderFadington,

Hey, I'm from Ethiopia and most us and you guys (Hausa) speak the same super family (Afroasiatic). This language originated in Ethiopia and this means some of your ancestors migrated to Nigeria from here.

Not necessarily true. In terms of genetics, Hausas carry the paternal Chadic haplogroup marker R1b of the R1b1bc variety. R1b is an haplogroup found in Western Europe, pockets of Asia, and pockets of Africa. Although this haplogroup is taught by many to have originated in West Asia (Levant), there is still a lot of mystery surrounding its place of origin. In Africa, this marker can only be found in substantial amounts among Chadic speakers, as well as some neighboring Nilo-Saharan speaking groups in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Northern Cameroon.

The Chadic language is very different from many other Afro-asiatic languages because unlike most Afro-Asiatic categories, it has tones. The closest branch in Afro-Asiatic to Chadic is Berber, particularly the Berber language of Siwa oasis in Western Egypt. This is no surprise, because the Siwa berbers are the only Berber group that carry the R1b marker in substantial amount.

I'm not entirely dismissing your theory, because Hausas also carry an array of other African haplogroups, but their Chadic maker is R1b1bc.

Hati13:
As far as I know, Pentays (Protestant) also only celebrate the Orthodox Christmas. But there might be some who I'm not aware of them.

Ok now I understand. What kind of God do you worship?

I don't know what you mean. There are many kinds of God? I only believe in one God "Eledumare".

Hati13:
There might be few Ethiopians who celebrate December 25 Christmas, but almost all Christian Ethiopians celebrate the Orthodox Christmas only.

About your belief as being Humanist, I've read about at as being a product during the European renaissance. What is it's basic belief/s?

Do Pentays celebrate it on January 7th?
No, I'm not talking about that kind of humanism. I'm talking about the other definition. I just believe in human values like helping others and doing general good.

Hati13:
Ok. I asked because someone once told me that there is a huge desire to reclaim Istanbul and rename it Constantinople.

By the way, today is our Christmas. What is your religion if I may ask?

Yes, Amaregn is closer to Guragegn than Tigrinya. Gurage and Harari are cut from northern Ethiopians, because their ancestors migrated deep to Ethiopia during the late 1st millennium BC.

The below illustration shows when Ethiosemitic and Semitic languages in general separated. For now, this is the best explanation, but in future it might be reformed.

I forgot to wish you a merry Christmas! I'm aware that it's the orthodox tradition. Do you celebrate on the 25th of December in addition? I only say this because of the substantial Pentay population in Ethiopia.
I identify myself as a humanist and a believer of God.

Ok, the language chart is deeply interesting to me. According to that, neither Amaregna and Tigrinya are descendants of Ge'ez. I've already known that Tigrinya is closer to Ge'ez, but I didn't know that Ge'ez isn't the common ancestor, at least according to that model.

SicilianMafia:
Edo is Edo!!

Yoruba is Yoruba!!

We are not one People !!

If you have Benin heritage well good for you, But don't think you can have a say where real Edo's are seated!

It is you who should educate yourself , look at how Yorubas from oyo and osun (who alwaya feel they are the pure stock) treat people like you from Ondo and Ekiti, they always mock them and call thier language gibberish

My advice to you if you really know you have Benin heritage and not just an impostor , nor carry Yoruba matter untop head because according to osun/Oyo people you are not pure/true Yoruba and if push comes to shove you will be reminded of that !!

And what exactly is true Yoruba?
It's always ipob and ignorant people like you who always use the Osun or Oyo tag to judge how Yoruba someone is. Let me tell you this, the Yorubas in Osun and Oyo are not homogenous and speak a variety of colorful dialects. You probably think everyone in Osun and Oyo speak the Oyo language as a native tongue. You are simply misinformed!

macof:
I think Ijaw is not a homogenous ethnicity.. I lernt there are even few groups that speak Edoid languages, and some speak languages similar to the Efik-Ibibio

This is true. A well known example are the Apois of Ondo who speak a Yoruba dialect after migrating to their present location and assimilating with the natives. They claim that they migrated to their original location from the original Apoi clan in Central Bayelsa. This is no surprise because Ijaws are opportunistic explorers/seekers who were historically involved in maritime activities. They even made their ways into the cranies of Ijebu creeks. There was even a relationship involving transfer of ideas between Ijebus and Ijaws that goes back before colonial times.

Hati13:
Amaregn had influenced Tigrinya (not just in the board, but in general Tigre region. By the way, Amaregn and Tigrinya aren't that close like some ppl say. They very different if you look at it from Ethiosemitic languages perspective. Tigrinya is a north Ethiosemitic, while Amaregn is south Ethiosemitic language.

Is there a huge desire by Greeks, Armenias and others who were affected by Turkey to take back their ancestors lands? For example, does Greek has a plan to take back Istanbul (Constantinople)?

I don't know the answer to this question, but after the Ottomans lost WW1, the treaty of Sevres was drafted by the western nations to carve up the Ottoman territories in the Middle East. For example, The British colonized Iraq and Palestine etc., while the French took Syria, Lebanon, etc. Parts of the Turkish Anatolia and Eastern Thrace were supposed to be given to Greeks, Armenians, and Kurdish, but this didn't really materialized.

Back to the Ethiopian languages. I heard that the Gurages are speaker of South Semitic languages. Is Amaregna closer to the Gurage languages than it is to Tigrigna? Also why do you think speakers of Gurage and Harari are geographically cut off from the bulk of the Semitic Speaking populations in Northern Ethiopia?

Heywhizzy:
Nice read.. Slavery was kinda like a blessing in disguise.. Most of our greatgrandparents who were slaves ended up being Americans why the rest suffered here in Nigeria

A BIG NO, it wasn't so cut and dry. I hope you are not using this rare example as a basis for how slavery was in the Americas.
Slavery was not a blessing in disguise. I bet you think your great-grandparents sold into slavery were living in luxury in the Americas. Let me throw this at you. Being sold into slavey meant that you had to endure the middle passage accross thousands of km of the Atlantic ocean in crowded, and disease/death invested ships that would transport you to the Americas.

On soil, slaves were not treated as full human beings. They often ended up in the hands of multiple owners. This means that children were torn apart from their mothers and slave families were separated and traded like currency. You would spend hours in the heat working in fields, badly beaten, and covered in blood and scratch wounds. You were deemed noting but a property and owners could do how they please with a"property." This is to say rape was common. Your culture was also robbed from you as you were prohibited from practicing your culture, speaking your language, and holding on to the little heritage you might have within you. After slavery ended, you were still not considered human being enough, so you couldn't attend a proper school had to lived in slums and ghettos and weren't allowed to vote. This doesn't include the terrorization you would face including public lynching and public discrimination. So no, slaves suffered most.

Your suffering in Nigeria is a result of the bad corrupt leadership and the inability of Nigerians to rise up and bring forth a revolution. Although, the colonists robbed Nigeria of its wealth, the country they left behind was on the track of success.

Uchek:
Happy New Year. I am intrigued by your statement above. Yorubas actually fought in the Civil War but on the side of the northerners. So my question is if the war was non of your business, why did Yorubas join the Hausas/Fulanis against Biafra? Why did they not allow Igbos and Northerners to slug it out?

Thanks and looking forward to read your response

It wasn't as simple as a war between the Igbos and the Northerners. The Yorubas were more or less neutral, at least for the beginning of the war. Ojukwu and his forces requested Yorubas' backing, but the West wasn't in on the plan. Biafra's quest for more territory beyond the old Eastern Region is clearly displayed by the midwest invasion. The 12th brigade was even at a point instructed to attack the West including cities like Ibadan and Lagos. Biafra would later meet its demise at Ore. See, they lost their case the moment Biafran forces stepped foot on Yoruba soil. The assault at Ore would mark the tuning point for Biafra as it began to witness loss of territories.

Hati13:
Truly said. What we need is reconciliation and I like your positiveness.

Yes, there is a translation. Southern Tigre is bordered by Amara.

I also read that the atrocities and assimilation committed by Ottoman Turks was brutal. Is the claim that most of the ppl who identify themselves as as Turkeys are the assimilated ones (Greeks, Armenias and others)?

Which West Africa civilization will you recommend me to read it detail?

Ameseginalehu!

ok. Is there a linguistic transition in South Tigray where their is a mix of Amharaic and Tigrinya speakers or a Tigrinya dialect with Amharic influence.


Choose whatever you find interesting in West African history. I don't think I should dictate your interest.

The Ottomans committed a lot of genocide and atrocities. They practiced a form of blood tax known as devshirme where they captured young boys from their parents in the Balkan, convert them to Islam and train them to serve the empire (basically turkify then). The Turkification process was slow and took over a millennial. Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, Jews, and other non Turks in the empire were given secondary status as Dhimis. They were given the option to convert and be assimilated, be killed, or pay a hefty jizya tax. Through a process of Turkification, Anatolia(Turkey) transformed from a majority orthodox population and a minority Tukic population to a majority Turkish and muslim population. The Armenians and Assyrians were wiped out from their native land in Eastern Turkey and the Greeks from Western Turkey. There was even Turkification that took place in the Arab and Aramaic speaking populations in the South.

The Armenian/Greek/Assyrian genocides were the last and final stage of Turkification. The Ottomans needed a systematic way to exterminate the millions of Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrian in their empire to stop their growing nationalism/rebellion which would threaten its power. They basically round up people in the villages and massacred them. To give you a scale, the Ottoman soldiers were adamant about "wasting" their bullets so they would use devious often more sinister methods to inflict pain and death. This include throwing people off cliffs, mass burnings of entire villages and their inhabitants, performing medical experiments of deadly diseases on people, drowning of civilians, and starving people. Turkish commanders were instructed to do how they pleases with the women so many women were raped or sold into sexual slavery. One of the more scale was concentration camps and death marches. The Nazis did not invent death marches. Many were deported from their homeland into concentration camps and thousands of people include children were forced to march across the Syrian desert without food or water. It's said that bone remains of the Armenians is scattered all over the Syrian desert. Millions of properties and valuable possession (like gold) were confiscated. Artwork in churches were plastered down and the buildings were converted to mosques. The genocide inevitably lead to the Armenian diaspora. Many Armenians fled to Syria and Lebanon where they were welcomed by the Levantine Arabs. Others migrated to countries like Russia. This is no surprise because Syria, Lebanon, and Russia are some of the few countries that have recognized the genocide. Some Western countries like UK and USA haven't officially recognized the genocide, because they want to be on the good side with Turkey. After the genocide, there was a population exchange between Greece and Turkey where the native Greek population in Western Turkey were exchanged for the Turks living in Greece. Also, although many Kurds turned against their Armenian/Assyrian in aiding the Ottoman's extermination campaigns, some helped the Armenians. They helped house and shelter many of them during the massacres. Many were able to disguise their identity by changing their names, marrying, converting to Islam, and becoming Kurdish or Turkish. Till today, there are perhaps hundred of thousands of crypto (hidden) Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks in Turkey with lost or forgotten ancestry. So yes, Turkey is a nation built on the tear, soul, and blood of millions of people. The people of Turkey are a product of assimilation. If you think about it, the original Turks that migrated from Central Asia look different from the people in modern day Turkey.

Why did I bring all of this up? I think assimilation is a common theme across the world. When we assimilate whether through peaceful means like immigration or violent ways like genocide, we forget our original identity. In talking about reconciliation, countries like Germany after the holocaust reconciled with their past and acknowledged their role in the holocaust. On the other hand, countries like Turkey have not recognized or even acknowledge that there was a genocide of the Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians. In effect, they have never closed the wounds from the past and they would never come to terms with their identity unless they recognize their past.

Theydontcare:
With all the chest beating and quest to dominate one another, they are actually not indigenous people of Africa. The Bantus are more indigenous than all theses tribes. Why fighting. Let these tribes combine their effort and rewrite their history as a people. Consolidate and grow from there.

What ethnic group are you?/where are you from?

Hati13:
Yes it was. The Yejju also changed the court language which was Amaregn to Oromo. Tewodros II didn't liked Yejju and other Oromos and when he came to power, he punishment many of them. His letter to Queen Victoria said that, my father simply gave the country to galla (Oromo). And I don't think he is right.


You seems to know Ethiopian history very well. Good. Most of the so called students here don't even know what Yejju means.

You are right. Dira Dawa founded by Somalia, before Oromo and then Amhara went there. But Jimma was founded by Oromo after their expansion.

You are right about Oromo assimilation. They are expert in cleansing other ppl identity, so they can turn their enemy into one of their own. They were also cruel during their expansion and had slaughtered, mutated the male reproductive organ and female breast and enslaved many Ethiopians. Some of them had extensively mixed with many Amhara that Tigre elders call us half galla (half Oromo). My father was Shewan Amhara, so I won't be surprised if he had some extent of Oromo blood.

By the way, the nowadays Amhara are very different from the original Amhara. Nowadays, Amhara is very heterogeneous, while in past they were homogeneous and had more finer features. Menz Amhara are now the purest Amhara compared to other and they feel superior over other Amhara because of this. They negatively call other Amhara "mixed or half galla (half Oromo)".

I guess this is one of the reason why there is a slight tension between some Oromos and Amhara. Vengeance is a cycle that repeats itself, so it's important to learn to forgive and move foward even if it's hard.

No, I don't think I know Ethiopian history that well. I just love studying African history in general. I used to be very ignorant. I think it's important for people to understand the why things are the way they are and learn through multiple perspectives.

I've read on the gross atrocities committed during their expansion. Even with his, one must learn to not be hateful and forgive. The sins of one's ancestors should never be paid for by the blood of the descendants. The only responsibility for the descendants to uphold is for them to recognize the past, because only when you seek reconciliation can you come to terms with the meaning of one's identity. Although on a much larger scale, this kind of reminds me of the assimilation and genocide atrocities committed by the Ottomans.

Speaking on the mixing that took place. I think the term pure vs unpure is not something to be obsessed about because identity is fluid. You may have identified as Amhara today, but 3,000 years ago, your ancestors were likely not. I'm sure everyone's had close interaction with other ethnic groups in the past before. Also, is there a transition zone between Tigray and Amhara where the two cultures meet?

Hati13:
Ok. First, the Yejju were Oromo ppl who migrated to Angot province, northern Ethiopia in late 16th century and laid to the Christian civilizations there.

In 18th century, there was an emperor named Iyosa. His mother was a Yejju galla (Wollo Oromo). The court language is Amaregn (Amharic), but he spoke more Oromo language than Amaregn and favored more his mother Oromo relatives than his grandmother Qwara Amhara relatives. His Qwara Amhara relatives who felt annihilated called their relative army from Qwara, but his mother also called her Oromo relatives from Yejju. But this potential confrontation was halted when the Qwarans called Ras Mikael Seul of Tigray. He then deported and killed emperor Iyaos. This marked the start of the Zemene Mesafint era (it was a chaos era in which regional lords were the real rulers of the country and the emperors were just symbol). But few years after this, Michael Seul was killed and the era of Yejju dynasty of Zemene Mesafint started.

During the Yejju rule, there was a civil war and the country was thrown to a chaos. Life was mass for the peasants. But after 80s years of this, a brilliant man named Kassa defeated the Yejjus and re-established central authority in 1855. He wasn't from the royal family, but he proclaimed himself emperor under the name "Tewodros II" using a medieval prophecy. This also maked the beginning of the modern history of Ethiopia.

Ok I saw somewhere that there was a civil war and the empire was under different warlords. Was Gondar ever conquered by the Yejjus?

I've been thinking about what you said on the Oromo expansion and assimilation across Ethiopia. I think its fascinating. I'm a strongly for language/cutural preservation, so it's not surprise that I like to research into these things. I was looking at ethnolinguistic groups in Southwestern part of Ethiopia that were assimilated as a result of the Oromo expansion. Many ethnic groups like Hadiya, Sidamo, Gonga,Amhara and Somalis were assimilated in great numbers due to their expansion. I was looking at the kingdoms of Kaffa, Enarrea, Garo, and Janjero in Western Ethiopia. Also to my surprise I didn't know that cities like Dire Dawa and Jimma were not originally founded by the Oromo and that many of the people assimilated into Oromo.

Get your Hebrew Israelite crap out of Africa. What a confused set of people suffering from inferiority complex!

Can you tell me about the Yejju reign of Ethiopia in the late 1700s. What series of events led up to this and what happened afterwards?

There is no variant. The use of oyin + bo usage is the same in all part of Yoruba that I'm aware of. His there any particular reason why you are asking?

horsepower101:
[b]You just proved our point without knowing it.

1) So, In your fecal mind, this city looks good. Shame. After 57 years of independence without any political instability, this is be best their city can look?

Again, here you are assuming things without evidence. The country has experienced a number of coup since its independence, so gladly throw your political stability claim out the window. How it can look? I don't see an ocean of slums, and I don't see terrible road congestion. Case closed!

2) Yorubas always deny that oil money did not develop lagos but now you are saying that porto novo would have been developed if they had oil

No, I'm not saying they would be better off with oil, I'm saying the opposite. Many cities with the same population in Nigeria look worse than that. Lagos along with Nigeria before oil and the systemic corruption that came as a consequence was better managed. Before oil, Lagos was the commercial hub of Nigeria. At that time, Nigeria's economy was well diversified and was dependent on agriculture and manufacturing. Nigeria's largest income earner and export was cocoa which was concentrated in the West and Lagos was and still is the main entry point for Nigeria. The truth remains after oil became the largest earner, Lagos experienced urban decay. Lagos stagnated in urban development, and there was a rise in poverty and slums. More attention was diverted into developing Abuja than Lagos.

Abuja was built from scratch with oil money, Lagos wasn't. Lagos has always been Nigeria's commercial hub before oil production. Oil and corruption caused urban decay in Lagos, like in most cities across Nigeria. It's not until recent years that Lagos started to experience an upsurge in urban development as a result of more progressive leadership. For these reason, you cannot say oil built Lagos. Oil money built Abuja, not Lagos.

3) With a city of only 300,000 why is building their inner roads such a problem. They have only 1 to 2 major highway passing through the city. Look at google map. Majority of their roads are untarred.


Before you come up with more excuses, know that this country and city is 57 years since independence. They have no excuse to still look poor and backward.
[/b]

Oh please like majority of roads in Nigeria are tarred. Even their untarred roads look better than many pothole-ridden tarred roads in Nigeria. Please tell me how many major highways are in Awka with a population of well over 300,000.

horsepower101:
Why are Yoruba indigenes in portonovo who have everything Lagos have not able to develop? Are the waiting for igbos and foreigners to do it for them like they did to Lagos?

Cooly100:
Why is Port Novo not like Lagos

Even with a population of around 300,000, Porto-Novo is a relatively well organized and planned city despite the ignorant mindset of people like you. Note that Porto Novo unlike Cotonou is not the main sea port entry for goods entering Benin Republic. The country also lacks oil. So, no, Porto-Novo does not have everything Lagos has. You are just assuming the status of the city based on the notion of Benin Rep being poor. But, here is what they are able to do with the little money they have.

Here is the actual Porto-Novo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYvUFp59QKg

lefulefu:
The twitter war is unnecessary. Both yoruba and igbo girls fine in their own way. Igbo girls are mostly yellow plus their long hair like mammy water,pointed noses while yoruba girls na dark complexioned goddesses plus dem dey carry better ukwu venza for back .igbo girls also dey carry ukwu sha but they mostly win in the blenze dept.

Mr righteousness let me stop you right there. Physical traits like light complexion, long hair, big curves or dark complexion is found across all ethnic groups. However, the fact remains that MOST NIGERIANS ARE DARK IN COMPLEXION whether Igbo or Yoruba or Hausa. If you can't admit this obvious fact, you are suffering from inferiority complex. I've never heard long hair, and pointed nose as attributes of Nigerians, let alone what makes Igbo women different from Yoruba women. You can continue to live in your imaginative deception though.

You cannot be a proponent against the twitter rivalry, while you yourself hold a point of view that's divisive and generalistic.

AxxeMan:
Not all Yoruba buy into that ife dry fairytale and more and more are getting wiser everyday

It's fine as long as they identify as Yoruba. Yoruba is still Yoruba regardless of where they originate from whether it's Ile-Ife or not.

AxxeMan:
Ohh pls stop with the Ife origin bullshit it is getting stake and old , its on record that not all Yoruba's by into this dry fairytale .

Don't you even feel same , that your alleged source abi were u waka from Is the among the most if not the worst underdeveloped LG in Nigeria

You are entitled to your opinion. The people who call themselves Yoruba today claim origins from Ile-Ife irregardless of your opinion.

Why should I feel shame?

AxxeMan:
Tell us the part of Edo you served! Liar, No Edo man who hasn't stayed in Yoruba land before understand or speak Yoruba as it is a foreign and strange language .... Stop spewing cheap lies !!

Even your own local language you speak in ekiti a typical Yoruba from Osun or Oyo does not understand and your language has been called gibberish numerous times by the Yoruba's I schooled with.

You don't even know your history , ooh you think you are really Yoruba?... Or believe you will ever be fully accepted by Osun and Oyo ppl?

Reality would dawn on you soon!!

It's one thing to rebut his claim, but the bolded I cannot stand. Yoruba has become an inclusive term for over the past centuries for all people with origins to Ife. You think you know the origin of how the common Yoruba language came to be, but you don't. You must think Oyo is the only dialect spoken in Oyo and Osun.

Deadlytruth:
All these are immaterial. There is cross-cultural influence. Siluko is just by the boundary between Edo and Ondo and thus its culture is more likely to have undergone hybridization with those of her Yoruba neighbours.
Do the Siluko person himself agrees he is Yoruba? Have they ever agitated that they be joined with their "kit and kin" just across the boundary in Ondo State? The Iyara, Kaba, and other truly Yoruba people in Kogi State have at one time or the other expressed dissatisfaction with being placed in Kogi State and have been demanding to join Ondo. Can same be said of Siluko people? What does the name "Siluko" mean in Yoruba?

Please tell me that the old woman interviewed at 1:13 in the video is speaking Edo. I have to hear it from your mouth. I rest my case.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9phX-ZFqc8&t=87s

Deadlytruth:
When you say "Edo speaker" you are referring to the different languages spoken in Edo all together including that very Usen and Siluko. I guess you are trying to mean a Bini speaker who of course understands Usen.
Do Usen and Siluko people claim they are Yorubas or Edos?
For example the people of Ika speak a language which is an admixture of Igbo and Bini. But the Ika person would tell you and substantiate it that his origin is rooted in Benin and not in Igbo land. Do you question his knowledge of his own self just because his language is not purely Bini?

By Edo speaker, I'm referring to the language spoken in Benin and its environs (AKA the language spoken in most of Edo South Senatorial zone) or Bini language as you put it. You are just trying to make the question more confusing than it needs to be. The native tongue spoken in Usen or Siluko is not mutually intelligible with Bini language. The Usen's throne is of Ife origin. The king wears the Yoruba crown and has a Yoruba title. I don't need to say more. Maybe you are referring to the fact that Bini is a common lingua franca among the people, but it's not their historic/native language.

Deadlytruth:
Point of correction! There is nothing like Ebira group from which Igarra people are cut. Both Ebiras and Igarras belonge to the Oshuku descendants with coordinate status. Igarra are therefore not a subset of Ebiras as most people erroneously think. Both Igarras and Ebiras are different subsets of the Oshuku tribe.
On the Usen issue; Could you, as a Yoruba, understand and interprete what the Usen person was saying?

Yes.
Sure there are traces of loan words borrowed from Edo due to close proximity, but the language by all means is a Yoruba tongue. It's the same way an Ilaje can understand Itsekiri far better than an Edo speaker can. If you speak Yoruba, you can have at the very least a basic understanding of any Yoruba dialect or Yoruboid language for that matter. You can understand Usen or Siluko speech better if you speak an archaic Yoruba, or a nearby dialect, like those in Ondo. Now I'm going to direct the same question to you. Can you understand the native Usen speech as an Edo speaker?

Deadlytruth:
Those are not Yoruba dialects. What you have there is just convergence of words. For example in Igarra there local are names like Ozioma, Eneze, Ubani, etc which also are borne by Igbos and have Igbo meanings, but it is mere convergence and does not establish any linguistic affinity between the two peoples.
When the usen people however speak the Yoruba person does not understand.

I beg to differ. I was blown away upon discovering that the native Usen speech is more related to Yoruba than Edo. Let me ask you this. Can an Edo person understand people from Usen when they are conversing in their native tongue? (Not Edo language)

Igarra people are just a cut off Ebira group in Akoko Edo. I'm not here to argue that Akoko Edo people are Yoruba. I'm aware of the convergence evolution of languages in Akoko Edo and Nigeria at large, but I'm not talking about that. I'm simply referring to the existence of Yoruba cross-cultural communities in Ovia.

macof:
I didn't even know this

I wonder why there aren't any reasonable Edo on this forum

Very few people point this out, but there are Yoruba-speaking minority communities in Ovia.
I don't know the popularity of Usen dialect today, but the town of Usen and the surrounding communities in Ovia NE speak a distinct Yoruba dialect.
Yoruba communities in Ovia NE local government include
Egbeta
Usen
Ilorin
Ogbese
Ago Panu
Uhen

The Ikale dialect can be found in parts of Ovia SW local government area adjacent to Irele Local Government in Ondo state.
The Yoruba speaking communities in Ovia SW include
Siluko
Ago Akinde
Kekere
Foniyege
Lakolako
Gbelemotin Oke
Gbelemotin Odo