Yoruban.adj.
/ˈjɒrʊbə/, U.S. /ˈjɔrəbə/, West African English /ˈjɔruba/ A. n.
a. The language of the Yorubas, a tonal language of the Kwa group.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > African languages > Niger-Kordofanian > [noun] > Niger-Congo > Niger-Congo proper languages > Kwa family > languages of
Fante1819
Yoruba1841
Ijo1856
Igbirra1863
Fon1864
Ashanti1874
Twi1874
Nupe1877
Igbo1880
Edo1957
1841 Outl. Vocab. Lang Western & Central Africa 2 (heading) Ako, Eyo, Yabú, or Yarriba.
1843 S. Crowther (title) Vocabulary of the Yoruba language. Part I.—English and Yoruba, Part II.—Yoruba and English.
1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 755/1 The Bible and several religious treatises have been translated into Yoruba.
1927 E. S. Pankhurst Delphos v. 51 Yoruba, one of the African languages, conjugates its verbs as in English, though its vocabulary is entirely different.
1964 New Statesman 1 May 681/1 In Accra recently a Nigerian company, under the direction of the brilliant young artist Demas Nwoko, presented a dramatised version, in Yoruba, of Amos Tutuola's The Palm-Wine Drinkard.
1972 B. Emecheta In Ditch i. 6 The landlady started scolding her husband in Yoruba.
b. (A member of) a people of western Nigeria and neighbouring parts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > peoples of Africa > peoples of West Africa > [noun]
Fulbe1623
Mandingo1623
Akani1662
Gola1670
Ashanti1705
Beninese1705
Wolof1745
Igbo1757
Susu1786
Temne1791
Mossi1819
Ibibio1822
Koranko1825
Vaia1832
Sherbro1836
Yoruba1843
Akan1849
Songhai1851
Yoruban1853
Mitshi1854
Ijo1856
Igbirra1863
Soninke1869
Efik1876
Kanuri1876
Fante1879
Malinke1883
Mande1883
Kissi1884
Nupe1885
Mende1887
Ho1890
Benin1897
Limba1902
Munchi1905
Kono1909
Senufo1911
Tallensi1920
Yakö1926
Mandinka1957
Tiv1960
Togolese1962
Loma1964
1843 S. Crowther Vocab. Yoruba Lang. p. iii The Yorubas, like other nations, have always considered themselves the first people in the world.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. xiii. 526 I had a set of porters composed of four Bassa boys, two Wei Weis, one Dualla, and two Yorubas.
1937 Discovery July 225/1 The Yoruba have only the vaguest tradition of their own past.
1960 Guardian 15 July 14/3 The Yorubas live in the largest urban agglomerations to be found in traditional Africa.
1970 P. Oliver Savannah Syncopators 32 Between the lands of the Ibo and those of the Ashanti (Akan) of the old Gold Coast (Ghana) lie the domains of the Yoruba of Nigeria and Dahomey.
B. adj.
Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of this people.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > peoples of Africa > peoples of West Africa > [adjective]
Akani1686
Ashantian1705
Igbo1732
Mandingo1744
Nago1775
Temne1791
Wolof1828
Nupe1829
Kru1835
Gola1843
Mpongwe1844
Efik1849
Yoruban1853
Mossi1854
Fulbe1857
Ewe1861
Fan1861
Ibibio1862
Akan1863
Fon1864
Soninke1870
Mende1872
Ijo1883
Mande1883
Yoruba1883
Mitshi1892
Benin1893
Munchi1908
Yakö1926
Tallensi1936
Tiv1939
Limba1954
Kissi1957
Loma1957
1843 [see sense A. b].
1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 517/1 In the Yoruba lands the Church Missionary Society has 11 stations.
1938 J. Cary Castle Corner 357 Four big Yoruba soldiers.
1957 M. Banton West Afr. City viii. 153 A Yoruba secret society called Engugun.
1978 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts 126 366/2 In Nigeria, Yoruba woodcarvers have adapted their techniques to work in concrete.
Derivatives
ˈYoruban n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > peoples of Africa > peoples of West Africa > [noun]
Fulbe1623
Mandingo1623
Akani1662
Gola1670
Ashanti1705
Beninese1705
Wolof1745
Igbo1757
Susu1786
Temne1791
Mossi1819
Ibibio1822
Koranko1825
Vaia1832
Sherbro1836
Yoruba1843
Akan1849
Songhai1851
Yoruban1853
Mitshi1854
Ijo1856
Igbirra1863
Soninke1869
Efik1876
Kanuri1876
Fante1879
Malinke1883
Mande1883
Kissi1884
Nupe1885
Mende1887
Ho1890
Benin1897
Limba1902
Munchi1905
Kono1909
Senufo1911
Tallensi1920
Yakö1926
Mandinka1957
Tiv1960
Togolese1962
Loma1964
the world > people > ethnicities > peoples of Africa > peoples of West Africa > [adjective]
Akani1686
Ashantian1705
Igbo1732
Mandingo1744
Nago1775
Temne1791
Wolof1828
Nupe1829
Kru1835
Gola1843
Mpongwe1844
Efik1849
Yoruban1853
Mossi1854
Fulbe1857
Ewe1861
Fan1861
Ibibio1862
Akan1863
Fon1864
Soninke1870
Mende1872
Ijo1883
Mande1883
Yoruba1883
Mitshi1892
Benin1893
Munchi1908
Yakö1926
Tallensi1936
Tiv1939
Limba1954
Kissi1957
Loma1957
1853 S. Tucker Abbeokuta (ed. 2) ii. 15 There were few or no Yorubans brought to Sierra Leone till the year 1822.
1853 S. Tucker Abbeokuta (ed. 2) viii. 100 It afforded Mr. Townsend the opportunity of becoming in some degree acquainted with the Yoruban language.
1879 J. A. Farrer Primitive Manners iii. 89 Captain Burton justly calls attention to the possibility of many Yoruban proverbs being relics of the Moslems.
1936 V. A. Demant Christian Polity xi. 193 The thunder-god of the Yorubans is decidedly an earthly king who became a god.
1956 M. W. Stearns Story of Jazz (1957) iii. 27 The musical instruments for such occasions consist of Yoruban drums, shaped like hour glasses, and the drumming and singing are in the Yoruban style.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.adj.1841