Yoruba language
| Yoruba | |
|---|---|
| Èdè Yorùbá | |
| Native to | Ife, Nigeria |
| Ethnicity | Yoruba people |
|
Native speakers
|
28 million (2007) |
|
Latin (Yoruba alphabet) Yoruba Braille |
|
| Official status | |
|
Official language in
|
 Nigeria
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | yo |
| ISO 639-2 | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | yoru1245 |
| Linguasphere | 98-AAA-a |
Yoruba (English pronunciation: /ˈjɒrʊbə/;Yor. èdè Yorùbá) is a language spoken in West Africa, mainly in Nigeria. The number of speakers of Yoruba is approaching 30 million. It is a pluricentric language spoken principally in Benin and Nigeria, with communities in other parts of Africa, the Americas, and Europe. A variety of the language, Lucumi, is the liturgical language of the Santería religion of the Caribbean. Many Yoruba words are used in the Afro-Brazilian religion known as Candomblé. Yoruba is most closely related to the Itsekiri language (spoken in the Niger Delta) and to Igala (spoken in central Nigeria).
Yoruba is classified within the Edekiri languages, which together with Itsekiri and the isolate Igala form the Yoruboid group of languages within the Volta–Niger branch of the Niger–Congo family. The linguistic unity of the Niger–Congo family dates to deep prehistory, estimates ranging around 15 kya (the end of the Upper Paleolithic). In present-day Nigeria, it is estimated that there are over 40 million Yoruba primary and secondary language speakers and several other millions of speakers outside Nigeria making it the most widely spoken African language outside Africa.
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