Adjective

 
 
 
The beauty of Yoruba does not lie in its phoneme alone, but its grapheme which include numerous modifiers (Ọrọ Apejuwe).There are many of these modifiers known as adjective- which act as substitutes for how many, what kind. These modifiers provide readers and listeners with answers to quantity, quality, extent, and to a reasonable level, make a distinction between two similar things or more.

Adjective, answers what color, shape, size, quantity, quality; like other parts of speech, adjective makes our daily conversation possible. There are three types of adjective- quality, distribution and comparison.

An Adjective by Quality- is used in most cases, to explain non-visible or intangible human conduct, which is felt or noticed only by the outcome of such a conduct. Examples are:

Kindness                          Alaanu

Jealousy                          Ojowu

Hate                               Ikorira

Stubbornness                 Alagidi

Drunkard                         Ọmuti/Ọmu

Foolish                            Aṣiwere/Omugọ

Well-behaved                 Ọmọluabi

Goodness                        Oninure

 

Examples:

Bọde jẹ ọmọluabi (ọmọluabi is used to describe Bọde’s conduct or who he is)

Baba mi jẹ akọni ọkunrin   (akọni is used to describe father’s bravery)

Jọlọmi jẹ alagidi ọmọ         (alagidi is used to describe Jọlọmi’s character)

Aṣiwere eniyan ni ko’ si Ọlọrun (aṣiwere is used to describe someone else stupidity, who denies existence of God).
 

Adjective by Description- is used to describe visible qualities of a noun or its substitutes by weight, height, color, size, shape; for example:

The man is tall;

Ọmọkunrin naa    gaa (describing height of the man)

His wife is obese

Iyawo rẹ ni ara titobi (describing body weight)

My father wear black clothe.

Baba mi wọ aṣọ dudu (describing color)

She lives in a small room.

Sade   n gbe   ninu   yara   kolonbo (describing the size of room).

 

 

 

Adjective by Comparison- this category of adjective is used when comparison between two or more nouns is required; you create this type of adjective by compounding or doubling the first syllable  says Crowther.
 

Examples:

Adeṣẹwa lo lẹwajulọ ni gbogbo abule(julọ is used to express the degree of beauty)

Ni yiyara, ko si ẹyẹ bi Aṣa(yiyara, is used to compare the speed of hawk with other birds).