₦airaland Forum

somehow:
To know, recognize, looks like, similar to
Actually amo, not amot Amo, tekun not amot ekun

Asquare84:
Please which African countries can one experience snow

udoka55555:
Mad oh

aywhy93:
Don't misplace our priorities here, that is if it's possible for the Yorubas to have sighted Tigers to give it that name, Ekun. Your post is also based on assumptions. There are countless possibilities to that. Mind you, the yorubas didn't have to rear the tigers to name them, mere sighting is enough which is possible during their movement since the Tigers are not only in Asia, they've been sighted and recorded in some parts of Europe and other continents too.

4X4:
To me, Amotekun means pussy cat �

The first historically recorded elephant in northern Europe, the animal brought by emperor Claudius during the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43

Hansken, a female elephant from Ceylon that became famous in early 17th-century Europe, touring through many countries

Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24–79), called Pliny the Elder (/ˈplɪni/), was a Roman author, a naturalist and natural philosopher. . . of the early Roman Empire . . . . He wrote the encyclopedic Naturalis Historia (Natural History), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field.

From Pliny's Book on Terrestrial Animals

Pliny on Elephants

The elephant is the largest of all land animals. It remembers all the duties which it has been taught. It is sensible alike of the pleasures of love and glory, and to a degree that is rare among men even, possesses notions of honesty, prudence, and equity. They purify themselves by sprinkling their bodies with water; after which they return to the woods. When about to cross the sea, they cannot be prevailed on to go on board the ship until their keeper has promised on oath that they shall return home again.

Their teeth are very highly prized, and from them we obtain the most costly materials for forming statues.

Tusks of enormous size are constantly to be seen in the temples...


Africa produces elephants, they are found also in the countries of the Æthiopians and the Troglodytæ

Niccoloimhotep:
proof to the fact that op is probably right

aywhy93:
Read and comprehend. Millions of Yorubas resided in Africa and beyond Africa (other continents) over those years.

Niccoloimhotep:
but why was the picture of a cheetah used in the amotekun dp instead of that of a leopard if truly amotekun means leopard?

Nezero:
I got this beautiful post from my WhatsApp group


ON THE MEANING OF ÀMỌ̀TẸ́KÙN

A debate has been raging on since two days ago about what animal exactly do Yorùbá refer to as Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn. One thing that amazes me is the number of people that erroneously believe and claim that Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn is leopard. This people gave link to website offering Yoruba names of different animals and lo and behold, it renders Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn as leopard. This site also claims ẹkùn is tiger, an animal that never exist in the whole of Africa and by implication it never exist in Yorùbá land. It translates àjàò as nurctunal animal.

I want to appreciate the brain behind the website but they need to research more and give accurate names of these animals. It also shows that we need a central authority in terms of reference book where we can turn to for accurate Yorùbá names of flora and fauna. An ideal rendition of the animal call "Tiger" by a Yoruba man will likely be "ẹkùn abilà" just as we have adopted "kẹ́tẹ́kẹ́tẹ́ abilà" for zebra.

To this debate I have some responses to make in order to clear the air. First of all, tiger is an Asian animal. What we have here is leopard. Thank God I was born and brought up in rural area and followed elders a little. More, my hometown, Ibese in 1979 became famous when a stray ẹkùn was killed in a farmland near the town by some brave hunters. We have pictures of what Yoruba refers to as Ẹkùn and it is leopard.

Concerning Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn, there is no confusion about it. Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn is cheetah. Yoruba says, "Asunkún pani obìnrin Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn." This saying draws a comparison between a deceptive woman who can kill her husband even though she will be the first to start crying at the slightest provocation, and Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn with its two black stripes on its face resembling black tears streaming down its cheek.

The comparison also fits perfectly because of the sleeky shape of Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn (compared to the robust shape of leopard) which Yoruba must have regarded as prominent feminine feature.

More, cheetah is common in Africa and in Yorùbá land. The colonialists recorded it was a common site in Ilorin then.

Now, back to operation Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn, either by fortuity or deliberate design, those who came up with the name seem to have hit the perfect spot.


OP you have really done well.
Akure is a town very familiar with Ekun..it is the leopard. There are lots of leopards in ancient African photos. Their hides/skin also exist in abundance too.


Yearly Tigers kill people in Asia..no such occurrence in Africa. You won't find their hides too.



Many people want to remain ignorant.

Hayelomo:
But come to think of it. If someone maintains that ekun is leopard and tiger has no Yoruba name wouldn't it be absurd to mean that we are the first generation to have seen tiger? Are we the first generation to know a tiger? That our forefathers have never encountered it before and has never given it a name?

macof:
In what language is this done?

One group of people call one animal by one name then another group who don't know better call another animal by the same name?? Weird stuff right there

macof:
That is why a word needs to be thought of for tigers not using the word for leopard

Ẹkùn cannot be both tiger and leopard

aywhy93:
There's more to history and research than assumptions. The yorubas are known to have a wide historical movements, from Africa to North and South Americas and other countries in different continents, so assuming they have never seen a Tiger to give it that name EKUN is a dumb thought, or you probably think the Yorubas are just those people you see in Lagos, Ibadan and South Western Nigerian.

For even thinking Millions of Indigenous Yorubas who have existed before in the pasts doesnt know what they are doing, or have a wrong nomenclature in their local language shows one is a wise fool. There are enough and undebatable proofs that shows Ekun is tiger and Amotekun is Leopard and so on as stated in my initial post, just do your research. Let me even ask, which department of Yoruba studies in which University have you conducted the slightest research to even think you know anything about YORUBA..? And come up with your blabbing thoughts. You and Op just disappointed your forefathers.

TAO11:
It is I who is harboring and nursing sime grudge from elsewhere.

Listen again, I have commented negatively on an indigenous Yoruba source I cited in relation to an indigenous Yoruba topic.

What I should have done (and which I have requeated me to do) is to present a more authoritative source which disagrees with mine.

Nay, I failed the second time. Irather referred me to some everyone else who do not necessarily agree with me or disagree with me.

Am I a jester?

Hayelomo:
The "amo" in amotekun does not mean "looks like", it is rather " knows as", so amotekun literally means "knows as ekun". If it is looks like, it would be " bi ekun" not amotekun.

UnitedFront:
But there are English names for all animals even including the ones that couldn’t be found in their environment. Explain that

by the way how can you have a name for something you have never seen in your life.

Hayelomo:
The theory that yorubas cannot have a name for tiger because it is not native to Africa can only work if no single tribe in Africa has a name for Tiger. People adopt names for things that are not necessarily native to the culture. The theory of nativity is still prone to exceptions and you can't 100% say something does not exist somewhere except you have done a thorough and complete search of the area in a way you can't miss it which is practically impossible. Ai rin jina, lai r'abuke okere. Tiger may not be native to Africa, but that still doesn't rule out the possibility of encountering or seeing it at some point in time and at that point, ekun was adopted for tiger. Language is dynamic and as of the Yoruba of today, Ekun is the name for tiger and Amotekun the name for Leopard.

cbrass:
The difference between you and I is, you rely on what someone posted on the internet while I had a first encounter with the hunters. The Tiger been the larger cat in the cat family is peculiar to the whole cat family in the world and not cat family in Yoruba land. The Oluode in Ibadan said that he is still trying to understand why they chose Amotekun instead of Ekun. He even went on to say thag Amotekun looks like Ekun. So does Tiger look Leopard? I repeat we don't have A name for Tiger

TAO11:
Lol... Yes, Nollywood Yoruba is some of the custodians of the Yoruba language and culture today.

TAO11:
If you have a different view and superior source for it, do not bolt. Bring it forward.

Debaiz:
India has both wild Lions and tigers

But the op has that point they’re not found in Africa but that doesn’t mean the yorubas don’t know the tiger to be a fierce rival of a lion.

TAO11:
It was in an early 2000s Yoruba movie where the Babalowo was pointing to the hide of the animal