₦airaland Forum

GemUnique:
.
In the process of you tryna correct, there are errors
Owawa isn't cheetah (I suspect you got that info form Yorubablog)
Owawa (I don't know the English name, but certainly not Cheetah) is not even close to big cat family
not too small animal, has white furs that run from its back to tail, makes its sound at night.
You can ask a Yoruba Hunter if you wanna know more about it.
Tiger can't possibly have a Yoruba name as it's not found here in Nigeria.
What I think is Ekun and Ogidan are just Yoruba Adjectives which by time are used to qualify the Animal (Tiger) due to it's courage and Size

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

Niccoloimhotep:
proof to the fact that op is probably right

SonofDevil:
Tiger didn't exist in Nigeria ,so yoruba don't have word for it

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

Venerable612:
This is wrong.

First off the name Amotekun has nothing to do physical semblance as such.

It literally translates - “one who knows as Ekun”.

Again, you are wrong that Yoruba doesn’t have a transalation for Tiger - because our fathers didn’t have an encounter with them.

In fact Tiger has two Yoruba names. It could be called OGIDAN or EKUN. That’s why they say this provide - “Ogidan o ni se Barber, ki aja de be lo ge irun”.

And “KAKA KI KINIUN SAKAPO EKUN, OLODE A MAA RODE.“ Mind you Lion in Yoruba is Kiniun. And no one will ever compare a Lion with a Leopard. No animal can stand the Lion grit for grit amongst the Cat Family other than the Tiger; hence, the comparison.

Also, when Yorubas jokingly refer to someone as Ekun - it’s to represent that the person is a Strong man.

Thus,

Lion - Kiniun
Tiger - Ogidan and Ekun
Leopard - Amotekun
Cheetah - Owawa.

Hope this helps.

HBB1:
And Elephants exist in England?

4X4:
To me, Amotekun means pussy cat �

nlPoster:
Tigers are native to Asia, Yorubas were carried west. They wouldn't have encountered tigers in South or central America.

If you're looking for Yorubas who went eastward, then that's where you should begin your search.

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.

Xisnin:
Wrong analysis.
Ekun is Tiger, an animal need not be local before having a local name and in science
parlance you don't rely on one evidence to make a conclusion.

Ekun gains its reputation by being ferocious and strong and even seen as a rival of the lion.
No person with knowledge of wildlife will compare a leopard to a lion in any way when an
an average lion could snap a leopard's neck if it got the chance.

Only the tiger can match a lion muscle for muscle and pound for pound.

Venerable612:
This is wrong.

First off the name Amotekun has nothing to do physical semblance as such.

It literally translates - “one who knows as Ekun”.

Again, you are wrong that Yoruba doesn’t have a transalation for Tiger - because our fathers didn’t have an encounter with them.

In fact Tiger has two Yoruba names. It could be called OGIDAN or EKUN. That’s why they say this provide - “Ogidan o ni se Barber, ki aja de be lo ge irun”.

And “KAKA KI KINIUN SAKAPO EKUN, OLODE A MAA RODE.“ Mind you Lion in Yoruba is Kiniun. And no one will ever compare a Lion with a Leopard. No animal can stand the Lion grit for grit amongst the Cat Family other than the Tiger; hence, the comparison.

Also, when Yorubas jokingly refer to someone as Ekun - it’s to represent that the person is a Strong man.

Thus,

Lion - Kiniun
Tiger - Ogidan and Ekun
Leopard - Amotekun
Cheetah - Owawa.

Hope this helps.

Bigflamie:
What's this shi.t doing on front page and what's the usefulness of it's name to us?

Fvck these Nairaland mods for forcing shi.ts on our throat as if we all care about Yoruba language.

Venerable612:
This is wrong.

First off the name Amotekun has nothing to do physical semblance as such.

It literally translates - “one who knows as Ekun”.

Again, you are wrong that Yoruba doesn’t have a transalation for Tiger - because our fathers didn’t have an encounter with them.

In fact Tiger has two Yoruba names. It could be called OGIDAN or EKUN. That’s why they say this provide - “Ogidan o ni se Barber, ki aja de be lo ge irun”.

And “KAKA KI KINIUN SAKAPO EKUN, OLODE A MAA RODE.“ Mind you Lion in Yoruba is Kiniun. And no one will ever compare a Lion with a Leopard. No animal can stand the Lion grit for grit amongst the Cat Family other than the Tiger; hence, the comparison.

Also, when Yorubas jokingly refer to someone as Ekun - it’s to represent that the person is a Strong man.

Thus,

Lion - Kiniun
Tiger - Ogidan and Ekun
Leopard - Amotekun
Cheetah - Owawa.

Hope this helps.

hotwax:
Ajanaku was described to be dinosaurs...yet no record of dinosaurs in yoruba land...

pounder on that too

godspeed:
It's not that simple.

First, you have to look at the origin of the Yoruba language and how it has developed over the centuries.

No doubts, contact with foreigners either thru trade, slavery or colonialism would have had a large influence on the Yoruba language.( Much like the English language is heavily influenced by Latin and French) .

That the yorubas never saw tigers does not mean they never heard about it or didn't at least get a description.

Remember, one of the stories about oduduwa is that he came to Ife from Arabia haven fled the peninsula when Mohammad the prophet was ridding Arabia of idolaters, infact, oduduwa brought the IFA religion from Arabia.

No doubts, oduduwa arrival in Ile Ife would have had an effect on the local language as a lot of new words would have been introduced into the Yoruba lexicon.

So as regards' Ekun' , it could have been a borrowed word from oduduwa's language, or a coinage from the description of the animal as given to them by oduduwa.

Remember, Arabia is neighbors with India, so the tiger will not be strange to them.

BTW, amotekun means Leopard, cheetahs also not native to west Africa.

Venerable612:
This is wrong.

First off the name Amotekun has nothing to do physical semblance as such.

It literally translates - “one who knows as Ekun”.

Again, you are wrong that Yoruba doesn’t have a transalation for Tiger - because our fathers didn’t have an encounter with them.

In fact Tiger has two Yoruba names. It could be called OGIDAN or EKUN. That’s why they say this provide - “Ogidan o ni se Barber, ki aja de be lo ge irun”.

And “KAKA KI KINIUN SAKAPO EKUN, OLODE A MAA RODE.“ Mind you Lion in Yoruba is Kiniun. And no one will ever compare a Lion with a Leopard. No animal can stand the Lion grit for grit amongst the Cat Family other than the Tiger; hence, the comparison.

Also, when Yorubas jokingly refer to someone as Ekun - it’s to represent that the person is a Strong man.

Thus,

Lion - Kiniun
Tiger - Ogidan and Ekun
Leopard - Amotekun
Cheetah - Owawa.

Hope this helps.

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

Demzlent:
The picture is that of a cheetah not leopard

This settles it

aywhy93:
@OP, Demzlent... While trying to show us and impress us that you're a true Yoruba. You were doing the opposite.
@Mods, Lalastica... Please edit the topic on the front page, it's misleading to everyone.

Venerable612 has done justice to the post. He explained exactly the way it is.
So for anyone who really wants to know.

In Yoruba,

Lion is Kìnìún
Tiger is Ẹkùn/Ògìdán
Cheetah is Ọ̀wàwà
Leopard is Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn

PS: For those who care to read, this is a comprehensive article on EKUN (Yoruba Article) - https://wol.jw.org/yo/wol/d/r36/lp-yr/101996845

Thank You!

Demzlent:
The launching of operation amotekun has exposed the fact that we yorubas are losing touch with our language to the extent that our leaders are calling leopard amotekun.
So I am taking this opportunity to educate my fellow yorubas
Many of us believe that tiger is ekun, leopard is amotekun,this is wrong.
Tiger is an animal that is not found in africa,Yoruba land included,so our fore fathers did not come in contact with it,so they couldn't have given a name to it.
The correct translation is
Leopard - ekun
Cheetah - amotekun
Amotekun means like 'ekun' because if you look at leopard and cheetah,they look alike only that leopard is bigger. Tiger doesn't look like these two , it has stripes not spots like the two
There is a Yoruba proverb that says ''asunkun pani bi amotekun' this is because of the stripes below the eyes of the cheetah
Thanks

Demzlent:
The launching of operation amotekun has exposed the fact that we yorubas are losing touch with our language to the extent that our leaders are calling leopard amotekun.
So I am taking this opportunity to educate my fellow yorubas
Many of us believe that tiger is ekun, leopard is amotekun,this is wrong.
Tiger is an animal that is not found in africa,Yoruba land included,so our fore fathers did not come in contact with it,so they couldn't have given a name to it.
The correct translation is
Leopard - ekun
Cheetah - amotekun
Amotekun means like 'ekun' because if you look at leopard and cheetah,they look alike only that leopard is bigger. Tiger doesn't look like these two , it has stripes not spots like the two
There is a Yoruba proverb that says ''asunkun pani bi amotekun' this is because of the stripes below the eyes of the cheetah
Thanks

Venerable612:
This is wrong.

First off the name Amotekun has nothing to do physical semblance as such.

It literally translates - “one who knows as Ekun”.

Again, you are wrong that Yoruba doesn’t have a transalation for Tiger - because our fathers didn’t have an encounter with them.

In fact Tiger has two Yoruba names. It could be called OGIDAN or EKUN. That’s why they say this provide - “Ogidan o ni se Barber, ki aja de be lo ge irun”.

And “KAKA KI KINIUN SAKAPO EKUN, OLODE A MAA RODE.“ Mind you Lion in Yoruba is Kiniun. And no one will ever compare a Lion with a Leopard. No animal can stand the Lion grit for grit amongst the Cat Family other than the Tiger; hence, the comparison.

Also, when Yorubas jokingly refer to someone as Ekun - it’s to represent that the person is a Strong man.

Thus,

Lion - Kiniun
Tiger - Ogidan and Ekun
Leopard - Amotekun
Cheetah - Owawa.

Hope this helps.

movement2020:
Thanks for the lecture. Appreciate

neyobills:
Lol I actually saw the hides of the tiger with my eyes and not some hearsay in my grandfather's words only seasoned hunters dare a face off with a live tiger as they can also hypnotize their prey with their fierce look.

There is a Yoruba folklore song
Oju EKUN Yi pon Iru EKUN Yi Le loosely translated as The tigers eyes is bloodshot and the tigers tail is hard

Tigers have the most vicious bloodshot eyes of all the big cats,their eyes are bloodshot red even in cartoons so u do the math.

What makes u think there are no Tigers in Africa really,just google？

im not a professional zoologist studied something close however im a conservationist.

13october:
Learn don't just put anything online
Lion. kiniun
Tiger. Ekun
Leopard ikooko
Cheetah. Amotekun

TAO11:
Owawa ke!!??

Owawa does not even belong in the cat family.

It's not even a full blown wild animal like the aforementioned ones.

It's actually a semi-wild animal that is pretty small-sized like a grass-cutter. Its head resembles a dog's.

I've seen it killed before. And its name according to the hunters stuck since then.

supereagle:
You're right. My father and killed many times. It is Ariel animal and feeds in the night. It barks like dogs in the night. I was surprised to see owawa there .