₦airaland Forum

Because people know that their own countries are messed up and that their citizens are miserable. So it's a popular distraction for nations and their medias to point to other places that are even worse, because then they don't have to fix their own problems. They just say,

"Hey! You could be doing worse! You could be in (insert African country)! So count your blessings!" All the while, all the GOOD things about Africa, in terms of strides and development go unheard of.

That's why I frequently visit,

www.africagoodnews.com

To counter balance all the one-sided negativity.

PAGAN 9JA:
u r a silly man booshman. tribals r na silly, k they make up d true manpower. go suck aa lolly.

n Chinese r not from Africa. baboons.

Except that it's been proven scientifically that the Chinese, like ALL humans, are from Africa. Provide proof that states otherwise or be quiet. And I didn't say tribals are silly. Tribes and tribals are great. What I said is that tribalism is silly. It's pointless.

[quote author=tpia@ link=topic=689051.msg8533193#msg8533193 date=1308260140]^^and are you east african, or just their spokesperson.


trying to find out how the matter concerns you.[/quote]I am someone who is not a backwards and stupid tribalist that doesn't let facts get in the way of what is scientifically correct. That is why this matter concerns me.

Because why change, when you can have both? Look at Asian cultures, that are modern in many ways but still have their culture mixed with it. They even have many areas with their famous style buildings from centuries ago, as a reminded of their past.

odumchi:
Not everyone was directly from Africa. The modern Japanese people migrated from Eastern China 200 ce.

Yes, the Japanese migrated from Eastern China, but the Chinese are the descendants of Horn Africans. Primarily Khoi-san. Here is a video about Chinese geneticists taking 100,000 DNA samples, and learning that the first Chinese were from East Africa.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3IzMvBeOLk

[quote author=BABE! link=topic=687904.msg8508347#msg8508347 date=1307944517]^ If you need anything else---bring it.
[/quote]Oh! You reminded me! There is another thing,

Going back to my dictionary, they don't have any verbs that have progressive endings. For example, they have a word for "walk" but not "walk[b]ing[/b]". And my dictionary doesn't have past tense endings. For example they have a word for "walk" but not "walk[b]ed[/b]". That are the "-ing" and "-ed" endings in Yoruba and are there any specific rules to use them?

Why? Well for four reasons,

One: I'm a huge fantasy person. As in a fan of epic tales such as Lord of the Rings which are filled with bold heroes and creatures/monsters from folklore.

Two: The thing is that for the most part, all those tales and creatures are from a "white" point of view. So that's all people see. The image of whites as the only ones who are allowed to be heroic. While that may sound silly and pointless to you, that has proven scientifically to negatively effect children who are not of European descent. It teaches them that they are, at best, unheroic and are doomed to being only second best to whites. This has been shown to manifest itself in various forms when they reach adulthood. Things like skin bleaching with darker skinned people (like Hindu Indians, Africans, and Hispanics) and getting surgery to permanently make your eyelids bigger (like East Asians do). Methods to make themselves closer to whites, and closer to being accepted by them. I mean look at the infamous "Doll Test" in America where black and asian girls always picked out the white doll as being the pretty one, and the doll that looked like them as being ugly.

So what I'm doing is showing that Africans (focusing on various groups across the entire continent) indeed have a culture, folklore, and history that is just as rich as anything European. IF NOT MORE SO. So I'm creating a fantasy epic in the form of a comic, that takes place in a world that mimics Earth. (Mainly so I have a blank canvas to work with so there is no "creative ceiling" to stay under.) A world that is filled with monsters, beings, and tales from traditional Africa folklore. As well as magical versions of African kingdoms and their peoples of the past. While I just mention Africans, I'm also going to be doing the same thing with Black Americans, Hindus, the more ignored of Asian groups, Native Americans, and other groups that are left out of fantasy tales.

Three: Being a fan of fantasy, I'm tired of the same themes by authors. Humans are always white and they are the "default humans." Elves are nature loving and arrogant. Dwarves are always stout, axe wielding, brawlers that love to be drunk as much as fighting. There are always stone castles like in the days of King Arthur. There are always old and venerable wizards commanding nature. It's become the norm, and it's also become so horribly cliched.

Four: I just love Yoruba, Edo, and the cultures/traditions of other African groups! So I get to share that love in the form of another love!

But to protect my project from being copied though, I can't give away too many details. (I'm not talking about you, by the way. Just anyone who is reading this, that would violate copyright laws.) But there is a massive amount of research going into this. So while it will be in an alternate world, so I won't (hopefully) offend anyone, it will give them perepective on those who have doubt as to just how great their cultures are.  As well as teaching others that there are more cultures than European ones.

[quote author=BABE! link=topic=687904.msg8507982#msg8507982 date=1307934911]The tone-marks are put only on the vowels -- A, E, E(with the dot beneath it), I, O, O(with the dot beneath it), U. The seven vowels.
In Yoruba lang., the tone marks are used to differenciate words. Each syllable in a yoruba word must have it's own tone mark.
There are three tone marks in the Yoruba lang. They are: DO(\), RE, MI(/). Notice that I didn't put anything in parenthesis for "RE", that is because when a syllable has a "RE" sound, we don't put anything on the vowel.
The tone marks are, again, put only on vowels.

For example-- The word -- "Ara"(skin/body) has only two syllables (A and RA), which means it's gonna have 2 tone marks.
The first tone mark is gonna be on the first "A" and the second tone mark is gonna be on the other "A".

The tone marks for this word are "RE" "RE", which means it will be written as --"ara" --no sign needed (Remember what I said earlier)

But, as for the word "Ara"(thunder), the pitches here are diff., which means diff. tone marks. The tone mark for this one is "DO" "MI". It's gonna be written as " àrá ".


If you need additional--i'll be glad to help.
[/quote]Wonderfully helpful explanation! Part of me is a little relieved that there are only tonal variations on the vowels, as the language is challenging already. Oh, and does àrá mean "Thunder" or "Lightning"? Or is it the same word? Sorry, but I have to get this 100% correct. Call it "nit-picking" but I have to be accurate, because it's already "odd" enough making a comic about heroic, magical, fantasy versions of African groups. (With Yorubas being the main focus.) Especially when I'm not a Yoruba, Nigerian, or even a native African.

[quote author=Ileke-IdI link=topic=687904.msg8503323#msg8503323 date=1307846466]No prob.

Are you studying African languages? How do you know about Yoruba's tones and how they change the words/sentence completely?[/quote]I'm not studying it in a class or anything unfortunately. (Although I'm currently looking for language CDs and guides). For my comic book project I have actually learned a bit about it with the help of the dictionary I've been using. But it wasn't anywhere near enough help, so I have been visiting many Yoruba cultural sites (for cultural accuracy and other things) on the internet, where I learned that it is a tonal language. Which makes it stand out from the same old boring Latin based languages that I've been used to. Like English, French, Spanish, and Italian.


My thread, about what I'm doing:
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-681712.32.html#msg8490136

@Omosoji
Do you have any samples of your art, or how can I contact you? Because I'm currently gathering a team to get this product underway. Because I'm getting closer to finishing enough of the story to have some to work with, so I don't end up falling behind, in terms of writing new stories while art is being done for what I've already written. I ask because I'm trying to find a good artist, who has an art style fits the type of story I'm doing. For example, I don't need a style that is extremely realistic like Marvel comics style. Something slightly more cartoony looking, is what I'm looking for. Sort of like Japanese manga.

[quote author=Ileke-IdI link=topic=687904.msg8503281#msg8503281 date=1307845281]Those are the intonations. Yoruba is a tonal language.

Remember the C Ionian mode : "do, re, mi, fa, so la, ti do". Well, Yoruba is compromised of 3 of those 8 notes; DO RE MI.

So when speaking yoruba, those notes/tones have to be taken into consideration to correctly speak Yoruba.[/quote]Oh the "low", the "mid", and the "high" tones. That's something that I'm trying to get used to, because it changes the word completely. That is one of the things that makes Yoruba such a fascinating language. On top of the words themselves, you have to account for the subtle pitch changes. Now are those pitch changes only on the vowels, or is it all letters?

Thanks for the clarification, btw!

[quote author=BABE! link=topic=687904.msg8499360#msg8499360 date=1307795191]Blade--- Abe ( re, re) -- the "e" is the one with the dot

Blast---- Fanka -- (mi, mi)

Guardian-- Olutonisona ( re do mi re mi do) -- the first "O" doesn't have the dot. The second and third "O" do. The "S" doesn't.[/quote]I don't understand what the words in parantheses, next to the Yoruba translations mean.

OP here!

Thanks a lot, so far! This is all very helpful! So much so, that I should have just came here first instead of struggling with this old dictionary of mine. What is odd is that I have heard four different Yoruba translations for the word "Lightning". Ina Ara, Ino Ara, Ara, and Etimo. Is this one of those words that has multiple translations? If so, is one translation more commonly used than the rest?

omosoji:
Lightning - ara

Whoa! So my dictionary is wrong! Because it said "ara" was "skin" as in a human's skin. I'm glad I asked.

- Guardian - still thinking for the precise word, if you can be definite you can help us to help you because Guardian of knowledge would be different from Guardian of life or a temple, and don't ask for the meaning of certain word like 'angel' or 'satan' or 'devil', etc because they are semitic theological concept that was brought to us during the slave and colonial periods. So word were coined for them, some are erroneous but has stayed on the lips of so many.

Oh, I don't mean guardian in the foreign biblical sense. I just mean "a guardian" in the general sense. Like a protector of a temple or of a person.

[quote author=ola@ link=topic=687904.msg8497469#msg8497469 date=1307762321]I dont know much but I can help u with the following[/quote]Any help is appreciated. I just have a few questions, just so I'm accurate.

Lightning    Ina ara, Ino ara

Pronounced "Ee-nah Ah-rah" and "Ee-no Ah-rah"?

Skin              Awo    (o is pronounced "aw"

The "O" is pronounced "aw"? Oh, I also heard there's a different word for skin and it depends on whether you're referring to human skin or animal skin. I should have clarified and mentioned human skin.

Animal           Ira ko

Pronounced "Ee-rah Koe"

Living            Gbe  (e is pronounced as "a"

How is that pronounced? Like Bee-ay"?

Grip               Mu e.g mu dani

Going to take a wild guess at this,  "Moo-eg-moo-dah-nee"</i>?

True (like real or genuine) Otito, ooto

Pronounced "Oh-tay-toh" and "oh-oh-toh"? Which reminds me, when a word has more than one translation, is either equally acceptable or is the first one the more commonly used translation?

Pride Igberaga

Pronounced "Ee-gbay-rah-ga"?

(For anyone, really, ) If I want to combine two words like "Animal" and "Soul" to make a name. Would it be "Ira Ko Emi" or would it be something else? Sorry to ask so many questions, but it's rare that get to talk to Yorubas. There are a few things that I still need to learn, like the emphasis you put on certain syllables, when you say a word.

Oh I found more words that I am in need of translating, 

- "Soul" (Or is that the same word as "Spirit"?)
- Blast
- Punch
- Blade
- Gift
- Roar
- Wood
- Wind
- Guardian

Hello,

I'm an American who is trying to learn about two types of Nigerian dialect for a comic book project I'm working on, and I have a question about the Yoruba language. (I didn't know what other section to put this topic in.) The details of "why" are unimportant, but it's something that requires Yoruba words, and I can't continue unless I learn these words. Using the only decent Yoruba dictionary I've been able to find, I've come across three problems.

1. A lot of English words have multiple translations into Yoruba, so I don't know which to use.

2. Most of the verbs don't have progressive endings to them so I don't know how to say them. For example, they have the translation for "walk" but not "walk[b]ing[/b]". Or "talk" but not "talk[b]ing[/b]".

3. Some words in English have a translation that is very long. Are there short forms of certain words?

Also, if anyone could tell me the Yoruba word for any of the following, it would be a great help, because the dictionary is missing (from torn pages and lack of definition, PERIOD) these English translations:

Lightning
Fire
Iron
Water (surprising, I know)
Soul
Skin
Animal
Living
Grip
Explosion
True (like real or genuine)
Pride

Ok, this is great and all, but one question,

What's with those goofy looking, white, powdered wigs? This isn't 15th century England! Take those nutty looking things off!

As an AA, I apologize. Apparently, someone left the gates open at one of the insane asylums here and the OP got out,

I remember watching this about a week ago and enjoyed how charming it was. And to the person above me, CLOSE YOUR MOUTH! It's called "taking baby steps." If you try to jam too much into the first impression of new idea, it shows, and it makes the presentation look amateur. I wish much success for Bino and Fino!

I'm loving Mortal Kombat 9 for PS3. If only the network wasn't taken down by hackers, I'd be able to play it online!