Tone and Yoruba
Yoruba is a tonal language. A tonal language is when a “pitch of a word is often used to express differences in meaning; or when a particular pitch or change of pitch constitute an element in the intonation of a phrase or sentence, such as high, mid or low,” says Wikipedia.
The tonal structure in Yoruba is made possible by diacritics- placing accents on top of vowels to give meaning to the contexts. The following examples will illustrate the three types of tones (high, low, and mid) in relation to the three possible syllable structure (consonant/ vowel, vowel alone and syllabic nasal) found in Yoruba.
Table 5: Place of Tone in Yoruba
| Yoruba Sentence | English Translation | Type of Tones | Other Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| O ri i
Vowel Alone |
You did not see it |
High
|
Second Person/Third Person pronoun (it depends on tone). |
| Ẹ kuro lọ na
Vowel alone |
Leave the way |
Low tone
|
Second person pronoun, can be used as singular/plural. |
| Wa si ile
Consonant/Vowel |
Come/visit home |
Low tone
|
Consonant/vowel combination, which can stand alone, or be part of sentence. |
| Kọlade ju ὸkὸ lu aburo rẹ
Consonant/Vowel |
Kolade threw stone at his younger brother |
Low tone
|
Another consonant/vowel; a stand-alone or part of a sentence. |
| A n jo
Nasal |
We are dancing | It could be both low and high tone. | A nasal syllable. Sentence made with nose. |
| O un wa Ẹ
Consonant/Vowel |
He is looking for you. |
Low tone
|
Nasal syllable. |
