Clarification Of Those Common Yoruba Words That Seems Borrowed From Arabic - Culture - Nairaland
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| Clarification Of Those Common Yoruba Words That Seems Borrowed From Arabic by ghostofsparta(op): 4:44am On Mar 08, 2013*. Modified: 6:22am On Mar 08, 2013 |
The Arbiter: The Arabic roots of many contemporary Yoruba words has been investigated. Titled “On Arabic Loans in Yoruba,” it was written by Professor Sergio Baldi, a well-regarded Italian linguist, who presented it at the Annual Conference on African Linguistics in California, USA, in March 1995.It is a cunning untruth that certain of several words were borrowed from Arabic. There is no item of objects, and noun the Yorubas never had a term or descriptive word for. Any Yoruba man deep in his/her native tongue, genuine Ifa scholar or practitioner (Babalawo) will agree that there exists many ohun(word) and terminologies in Ifa that no one or few people can decipher there meaning. It is true that some words were YORUBA: Simi ẹdọ Meaning: Relax/Calm down Etymology: Simi(rest) ẹdọ(liver) Usage: Ọgbẹni simi ẹdọ (Mister, calm down) ENGLISH: Simmer down USAGE: Hey bro, you need to simmer down YORUBA: Rùn Meaning: Wreck/demolish Usage: Fashola ti rùn ilé wọn ENGLISH: Ruin USAGE: He's life is in ruin. - will add more later The Arbiter: Below are excerpts from the article as presented by Farooq A. Kperogi.. Abẹ means razor/blade in Yoruba, implying that our Yoruba forefathers had a cutting tool to shave off unwanted hair, slice material and trim their fingernails. Abẹrẹ on the other hand means needle in Yoruba language and shouldn't be traced to Arabic because of the similar sounding 'ai-bra'. Anyone who disagrees is indirectly agreeing that the Yorubas in their advancement never had a means of mending bata(footwear)and sowing asọ(cloth), hence he/she should then explain to us how the Arabs taught the Yorubas the technology of Asọ-Oke and Asọ-Ofi making? Had it been the Arab word for blade/razor sound like the Yoruba abẹ, they'd say it's Arabic in origin. The Arbiter: Adura. This is the Yoruba word for prayers...It is derived from the Arabic “du’a,” which also means prayers.Adura is not a Yoruba word for prayer. It is one of those word that were injected into Yoruba language. Like I said, there is no Yoruba word, including 'electron' that the Yorubas never had a word for. But which has been lost through time, others have been subtlety replaced over centuries due to Islamic presence in Yoruba Land for centuries. The genuine Yoruba word for prayer is Iwure as spoken of Ifa. To Wure is to pray/propitiate the Irunmoles (deities). The Arbiter: Alubosa. This Yoruba word for “onion” was borrowed from the Hausa “albasa,” which in turn borrowed it from the Arabic “al-basal.It is agreed that Alubosa is of Arabic origin. The original Yoruba generic word for onion has either being lost or forgotten given the heavy contamination of Arabic attempted domination as already explained. Onions is native to Yoruba land, thus, the original word for onion is still retained in the dialect of the various tribes that makes up Yoruba ethnic group. CONCLUSION They are several Yoruba words that seems borrowed from Arabic, but the truth is YES, few words were obviously borrowed as discovered, but another underlying truth is, it wasn't in a borrowed sense as stated by Wikipedia or mentioned in some thread on Nairaland, the original Yoruba words and designations were actually replaced with corrupted Arabic versions, but any reasoning true Yoruba should note that whenever he/she is provided with skewed origins of Yoruba words connecting to the Arabs, he/she should analyze it by asking "does it mean my fore-fathers never had an original word/term/name/ for this tool, noun, object, verb, action etc". before proceeding to ask "couldn't it be the other way round". seunajia: Looool.The oral tradtition you keep hammering on is IFA, and there's no passage in Ifa that acknowledges Arabia/mecca muchless of the Odua people coming from Mecca. As a matter of fact IFA states that all homo-sapiens spreaded from otu-ife. Like I said: The idea that Yorubas emigrated from mecca is a fallacy crafted by Yoruba Islamists spin doctors who by distorting the genuine origin of the Yorubas hence re-planting it in semitic root knowing not only would such spurious lies appeal to Yoruba muslims converts who will not only be glad to welcome the thoughts of his Yoruba ancestors having ancient linkage with the Arabs but also for the purpose of having it disseminated to the rest of the non-muslims Yorubas and christians. Rgp92: [size=20pt]Exodus from the Near EastI have heard and read many that are far worse than that ^ e.g. outrageous falsehoods that - resting in the supposedly undisturbed grove of bilikisu(an islamic name) is Queen Sheba and the utter nonsense that Odudua came from Mecca. The truth is that these and many other fallacies were crafted by Yoruba Islamists spin doctors who by distorting the genuine origin of the Yorubas thus re-planting it in semitic root knowing not only would such spurious lies appeal to Yoruba muslims converts who will be glad to welcome the thoughts that his Yoruba ancestors have some ancient linkage with the Arabs but also for the purpose of having it disseminated to the rest of the non-muslims Yorubas and christians. Any genuine pagan Yoruba knows the truth as canonized from Ìfá |
| Re: Clarification Of Those Common Yoruba Words That Seems Borrowed From Arabic by Dsimmer: 2:48pm On Dec 25, 2023 |
I think you mean this article right? ![]() The Arabic roots of many contemporary Yoruba words has been investigated. Titled “On Arabic Loans in Yoruba,” it was written by Professor Sergio Baldi, a well-regarded Italian linguist, who presented it at the Annual Conference on African Linguistics in California, USA, in March 1995. |
| Re: Clarification Of Those Common Yoruba Words That Seems Borrowed From Arabic by Dsimmer: 2:51pm On Dec 25, 2023*. Modified: 1:10pm On Jan 30 |
Some are indigenous while some are borrowed. Yoruba word for needle is both Okinni and Abere for example. Yoruba word for "but" is sugbon. Yoruba word for poor for example is Otoshi or Akuse. Yoruba word for secret is ikoko, ijinle, awo etc. Yoruba word for supplication is Iwure. Yoruba word for bodily harm is ifarapa, ipaara or ipalara. Yoruba word for benefit is "Iwulo, Didara or Daradara". Yoruba word for blessing is Ibukun. Yoruba word for Boast is "Buga" which means taking pride in what one is doing. Yoruba word for trouble is ijogbon. And etc. For every loaned word, Yoruba actually have their original Yoruba words for it, e.g abawon, idariji, gege/ikowe, ironupiwada, iyipada, ayanmo, idi/idifa, abetele, akoko, iseju, agbeere, ikorira, ijiya, ibukun, idera, gboriya, iyin, irorun, idakeje, ifonkanbale, itunu, alumogaji, Ijosin, edun okan, isinmi etc which are all Yoruba words. Also Yoruba Greetings are "bawo ni", "eku ijoko", "se daada ni", "ojire/ajire", "ire fun o" etc. Yoruba actually have different greetings for every situation. For example, "eku owo lomi", "eku ewa" etc.. While the likes of talaka etc could have been borrowed while trading with the Hausa, Mali empire. However, there are some words which are indigenous Yoruba word. For example, Iwaju (Saju). There's Asiwaju for example. The word Saju and Iwaju are got from Asiwaju. The word Oju means face or front. For example, Oju Ida, Oju elegba etc. So ASiwa means (forward) and Oju (front) thus Asiwaju. While ipamora or rora can also be used for patience however, suuru is also a typical Yoruba word which is different from "sabir" word. Lol. Ara is also Yoruba word which means thunder which is even found in Ifaodu for instance. Tele is also Yoruba word which is also in Ifaodu. Amodi is also Yoruba word which simply means we don't know the reason. So while Abela and Atupa can be used for lamp in Yoruba, Fitila is also Yoruba word because "Abela is also Yoruba word. Basically, Ela in Yoruba means light thus Abela and Fitila means light energy and clarity. Meanwhile, Alfa/Alufa is a borrowed word which resonates with "Alejo" which means "foreigner/stranger" in Yoruba because as a matter of fact, both Islam and Christianity are foreign religions in Yorubaland (Christianity came out of the Jews but spread by European missionaries). Tobi is also a typical Yoruba word which means big or great, not cloth or any taub. Lol. Also, Male isn't got from Mu'alim because Mu'alim is called Malla while Male was used for the Mali people who were trading with Oyo, although Mali could have probably be bearing Mu'alim at that time since they were practicing Arab Islam at that time but anyways, they were called "Male" by Yoruba people. Btw, "Male" is different from "Imole" which has different meaning and as a matter of fact, "Imole" is derived from "Irumole" which is derived from "Orunmila" which means "Heaven's light". Also, while Okinni is used for needle in Yoruba, Abere is also Yoruba word (not ai-bra. Lol) because first, there's a plant called Abere in Yorubaland as a matter of fact and also, Abe or Obe is used for pointed edges such as knife/blade in Yoruba. The "Be" word of knife is to cut, pierce or slice. Furthermore, while Yoruba words for petition and supplication are Iwure and Ibewe, Adura could have probably been got from the combination of "Dida and Iwure". Adura is dicey. Anyways, while Yoruba could have borrowed some words during trading with the Hausa, Mali (who interacted with some Arabs and were taking up Islamic) however, Yoruba language itself is quite similar to Jew language and we know Arab copied from the old Jews. For example, some Yoruba words which are similar to Jews are Orun means height in Jews (Aron). Ra-ahm is thunder in Jew language. Oluwa (Olua) which is Elowah (Eloah) in Jew. "Olorun" which is drived from "Orun" is also similar to that of the Jew, considering Elyon is also derived from "Aaron'' which means High. There's also Ayeraye/Awaye which is similar in meaning as Yahweh of the Jews. Other Yoruba (Jew) words which have similar meanings include: Ayeraye/Awaye (Yahweh), Melo (Melo), Aye (Haya), Lale (laylah), Binu- (Benas), Eledumare (El' Mareh), Baale (Baale of Judah), Ojire (Jireh), Alubosa (Basal) etc. All these are Jew words which are not even found in Hausa and Mali language except Ra (Hausa calls it Arrad) and Basal which are Arabic coined from Jew language btw. As a matter of fact, the Arab words are only Layla, Basal, Arrad which were copied from Jew language whereas other words have no meaning in Arab but are found in Jew language with the same meanings as the Yoruba meanings 🤔 However, Yoruba didn't even trade with the Jews. That's why it's surprising at times. Lol. Meanwhile, The Jews should go learn Yoruba to recover their old Jew language 😂 |
| Re: Clarification Of Those Common Yoruba Words That Seems Borrowed From Arabic by Dsimmer: 9:23am On Dec 26, 2023*. Modified: 1:11pm On Jan 30 |
Dsimmer:Gentleman is Okunrin jeje in Yoruba😂 Anyway, I know Yoruba are known as Omoluwabi, Kaaro Ojire, Yoruba (Yooba) et al.. before everyone become Yoruba (Yooba), albeit "Yoruba" had always been the main plan as engraved in Jew letter inscriptions as "Yod Rosh" on ancient Oranyan Obelisk by ancient Yoruba ancestors! |
| Re: Clarification Of Those Common Yoruba Words That Seems Borrowed From Arabic by Dsimmer: 6:47pm On Dec 26, 2023*. Modified: 12:08pm On Jan 30 |
Dsimmer:One thing I have arrived at is Yoruba language is an old language which should be preserved with the culture📍 |
| Re: Clarification Of Those Common Yoruba Words That Seems Borrowed From Arabic by Dsimmer: 8:39am On Dec 27, 2023*. Modified: 12:10pm On Jan 30 |
Let's say the flood story was probably domiciled in a particular area because there was no way Noah would have been able to reach everyone on earth and tell them about any flood. Others secluded from the area wouldn't know anything and would still be doing whatever they were doing while all that was happening, for example, the Yoruba were doing whatever they were doing. God probably didn't reason their matter at that time 😂 or because they are his Omoluwabi 😅 (this is me just trying to be funny. Lol 😂). Anyways, since Life started from the blacks as proven scientifically, we can then say Noah must definitely be a black man who sprung up from other black men before others also sprung up and even had the language changed 🤓 while Yoruba language persisted. Lol. Funnily, Ifaodu also speaks about Christianity because it mentioned Jewesun as the child of Olodumare and the lamb. Two people were actually mentioned. Orunmila (Ela) and Jewesun however both are the same since it says Olodumare has only "one child" (Okanbi). So Orunmila (Ela) is Jewesun thus, it's the same thing, such as, a=X. What I arrived at is Yoruba language is quite old, so is the culture which all need to be preserved. Ifaodu by Orunmila is also quite old and mysterious. Anyways, Ifaodu entails the history of the Yoruba race while also entailing science, arts, history, creativity, civilization etc. Ifaodu is really mysterious. |
| Re: Clarification Of Those Common Yoruba Words That Seems Borrowed From Arabic by Dsimmer: 8:05pm On Jan 03, 2024*. Modified: 12:08pm On Jan 30 |
Dsimmer:It is actually "Oyo Ori Oba" which means "Joy is the activity of the King" which is "Oyo Oba" (Yooba). Anyways, it was Oranmiyan who named the Yoruba, albeit "Yoruba" had always been the main plan from the beginning because Jew letter inscriptions "Yod Rosh" were engraved on ancient Oranyan Obelisk by ancient Yoruba ancestors! Scary how ancient Yoruba ancestors engraved Jew's "Yod Rosh" inscriptions on ancient Oranyan Obelisk and that's exactly Yoruba name today. |
| Re: Clarification Of Those Common Yoruba Words That Seems Borrowed From Arabic by Fenrir(m): 12:09pm On Jun 24, 2025 |
The name yoruba actually came from European influences actually mate But as for the Arabic stuff thats because mali traders brought a particular belief to Nigeria originally and 2 tribes fully embraced that belief Hausa and ...... |
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