Learn Yoruba

Where it's spoken

Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and a large diaspora in Brazil, Cuba and the US

Speakers

around 45 million

Writing system

Latin alphabet with tone marks and sub-dot letters (ẹ, ọ, ṣ)

Yoruba carries an enormous body of music, film and religious practice, and it is one of the most requested heritage languages in the Americas.

What makes Yoruba different

• Yoruba is tonal: high, mid and low tones change meaning, so the accent marks are not decoration.
• Greetings are age- and time-specific — ẹ káàrọ̀ in the morning, ẹ káàsán in the afternoon.
• The dotted letters ẹ, ọ and ṣ are separate sounds from e, o and s.

Your first Yoruba phrases

Each phrase is written the way it's spelled, then respelled for English speakers with the stressed syllable in capitals.

• Ẹ káàárọ̀Good morning/eh kah-AH-raw/
• Ẹ káàsánGood afternoon/eh KAA-sahn/
• Ẹ kú ìrọ̀lẹ́Good evening/eh KOO ee-RAW-leh/
• Ẹ ṣéThank you/eh SHEH/
• Bẹ́ẹ̀ niYes/BEH-eh nee/
• RáráNo/RAH-rah/
• Jọ̀wọ́Please/JAW-waw/
• Ó dàbọ̀Goodbye/oh DAH-baw/

Want the full list? Read the free Yoruba phrasebook with pronunciation, grab the free printable Yoruba starter kit, or compare SemaSoma with other African language apps.